Superhydrophobic surfaces fabricated by replica molding and its applications

Two kinds of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) rough surfaces with different geometries which were square pillars and parallel grating were designed and fabricated by replica molding (REM). Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that the fabricated samples had high fidelity. The contact angles of water droplet on the PDMS square pillars surface and parallel grating surface were (154.6 +/- 0.7)degrees and (160.2 +/- 1.9)degrees, respectively, and the sliding angles were not larger than 6 degrees and 3 degrees, respectively, which attained to the standard of superhydrophobicity. The experimental result of blood platelets adhesion demonstrated that these two superhydrophobic PDMS rough surfaces had better blood compatibility than PDMS planar surface. The crazing and shedding of microstructures in the replica molding were also analyzed and discussed. All results showed that these superhydrophobic materials may be used in industrial and agricultural fields and bioengineering field.