Super-hydrophobic surfaces made from Teflon

Abstract

Super-hydrophobic surfaces are typically made by introducing roughness into a surface made from a water-repellent material. Water easily rolls or bounces off these surfaces, carrying away most surface contaminants. We describe here a simple low-cost approach using a commercially available Teflon^® suspension for forming an ultrahydrophobic coating. By using sacrificial colloids, a surface with an array of well-defined depressions is created, giving rise to a very low wettability by water, showing a contact angle of ≈170°.