Spatial control of dewetting: Highly ordered Teflon nanospheres

Abstract

We demonstrate a simple route for fabricating Teflon nanospheres with high degree of order by guiding with saw-toothed patterns having different pitches and amplitudes. Teflon precursor solutions were spin-coated onto substrates with different surface energies. Immediately after spin-coating, a saw-toothed patterned surface was brought into contact with the precursor film at 120 degrees C for 1 min to induce dewetting of the film but in the confined geometry defined by the saw-tooth pattern. Depending on the pitches and amplitudes of saw-toothed patterns, arrays of highly ordered nanospheres having a range of sizes and separation distances were obtained. And also sizes of Teflon droplets can be tuned by changing the thickness of Teflon film. Hydrophobic nanostructured Teflon patterns can be used as masters for fabricating polymeric replica and as hydrophobic surfaces.