Novel one-step route to induce long-term lotus leaf-like hydrophobicity in polyester fabric

Abstract

Lotus leaf-like hydrophobic pattern development through a facile and commercially applicable method has always been an issue for the textile industry. In this study, a novel commercially applicable method for the development of such patterns without affecting the structural integrity of the polyester textile was proposed. Photoresist molds with pattern dimensions similar to the lotus leaf surface were fabricated by a conventional photolithography process. The inverse of these patterns was obtained by a Ni electroforming process conducted on the fabricated photoresist molds to form Ni molds, which were utilized to transfer the lotus-leaf like patterns onto polyester fabric by one-step hot embossing method. The surface morphology of the polyester fabric before and after pattern transfer was studied by an optical microscope and field emission scanning electron microscopy images, respectively. The results revealed a successful transfer of patterns. Three-dimensional profiler data analysis provided the information regarding roughness of the embossed surfaces. A high surface roughness (R_a = 48 μm) was achieved after the development of lotus leaf-like patterns on the polymer textile. Contact angle hysteresis was studied using the contact angle analyzer.

Keywords:

• hydrophobic surfaces
• lotus leaf effect
• polyester
• hot embossing
• hydrophobic pattern fabrication

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (No. 2008-0061891) and 90% overseas scholarship program HEC (Higher Education Commission) funded by the Government of Pakistan.