Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic poly(methyl methacrylate) substrates using ultrasonic imprinting

Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) have received increasing attention in the last decade, and have been generally developed from hydrophobic materials. In this study, a facile fabrication method based on ultrasonic imprinting is proposed to develop SHSs from a hydrophilic polymer, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). To fabricate SHSs on PMMA substrates, micro electrical discharge machining, micromachining and ultrasonic imprinting were sequentially used. The ultrasonic imprinting was performed for various channel designs and imprinting conditions, and the resulting water contact angles were measured for the replicated samples. As a result, superhydrophobic characteristics could be obtained on a hydrophilic PMMA replica without any chemical treatments. The effects of nanoscale roughness on the replicated channel as well as composition change are discussed with respect to the analyses using an atomic force microscope, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.