Fabrication of a hierarchical structure by oxygen plasma etching of a photocured microstructure containing a silicon moiety

Abstract

We present a simple and straightforward method for creating a hierarchical structure in which the nanoscale roughness is derived from a microstructure. This hierarchical structure is at the backbone of almost all biomimetic functions. A liquid blend of a photocurable prepolymer and a functionalized polysiloxane is moulded by photocuring, and then the moulded film is simply exposed to a blanket oxygen plasma to produce the hierarchical structure. The nanoscale roughness is controlled by varying the weight ratio of acrylate-functionalized polysiloxane to acrylated prepolymer. To demonstrate the efficacy of the fabrication method, a superhydrophobic surface was produced by coating the hierarchical structure with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM).