Formation of two-level water-repellent textures on the surface of polymer films
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33216/1998-7927-2026-300-2-82-95Keywords:
microtexturing, thermoforming, polyethylene, olyethylene terephthalate, hydrophobicity, superhydrophobic surfacesAbstract
This study investigates the fabrication of micro- and hierarchically textured polymer film surfaces via thermoforming using metallic molds produced by femtosecond laser ablation. The influence of surface texture and embedded nanoparticles on the hydrophobic properties of the materials was analyzed. Polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films with a thickness of 200 µm were used as model polymers. It was shown that PET films provide the most accurate and stable reproduction of the microrelief during direct thermoforming with metallic molds, whereas PE exhibits morphological defects associated with polymer–metal adhesion and its rheological properties. The use of intermediate PET replicas was proposed to improve the quality of PE imprints and reduce the adverse effects of polymer–metal interactions. The fabricated microtextured surfaces demonstrated pronounced wetting anisotropy, with contact angles strongly depending on the droplet orientation relative to the texture direction. Surface texturing significantly enhanced the hydrophobicity of both inherently hydrophobic PE and initially hydrophilic PET. Comparison of experimental data with theoretical predictions using the Cassie–Baxter model revealed higher experimental contact angles, indicating the formation of an additional submicron roughness level. The possibility of creating hierarchical surfaces by embedding hydrophobized fumed silica nanoparticles directly during the thermoforming process was demonstrated. The particles were effectively fixed predominantly at the microrelief peaks, forming an additional nanotexture. The highest hydrophobic performance was achieved for negative PET textures with embedded nanoparticles, reaching stable superhydrophobicity with contact angles exceeding 156 ± 3°. The results confirm the potential of combining thermoforming with nanoparticle integration as a scalable approach to fabricate functional polymer surfaces with tunable water-repellent properties.
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