Fluorine-Free Superhydrophobic Microstructured Films Grown by PECVD

• Published in: Chemical vapor deposition Vol. 17; no. 7-9; pp. 198 - 203
• Main Authors: Rouessac, Vincent, Ungureanu, Andreea, Bangarda, Soumia, Deratani, André, Lo, Chia-Hao, Wei, Ta-Chin, Lee, Kueir-Rarn, Lai, Juin-Yih
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.09.2011; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley-VCH Verlag
• Subjects: Chemical Sciences; Chemical vapor deposition; Deposition; Fluorine-free material; Gas pressure; Glow discharges; Low pressure; Microstructure; One-step process; PECVD; Reactors; Superhydrophobic surface; Thin films
• ISSN: 0948-1907; 1521-3862; 1521-3862
• DOI: 10.1002/cvde.201106903

Plasma‐enhanced (PE)CVD is used to create, in a single step, a superhydrophobic (SH) (water contact angle over 150°) layer starting from hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) vapor (i.e., without fluorine) in a low‐frequency, capacitively coupled plasma reactor under low pressure. Several SH microstructures are obtained, depending on experimental parameters (gas pressures, substrate rotation, pulsed glow discharge, plasma duration) deposited on various substrate types. The presented technique can produce thin SH transparent films (below 1 µm) or thicker ones (above 10 µm) to modify the surface of a macroporous hydrophilic membrane in order to render it SH with a water transmembrane pressure close to 2 bar. A superhydrophobic surface with a water contact angle over 160° has been synthesized in one step starting with a fluorine free precursor by PECVD (low frequency, capacitively coupled). Deposition was carried out on polished silicon wafer, glass plate and hydrophilic macroporous membrane. Water transport of such modified membranes has been studied.