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Adjustable, (super)hydrophobicity by e-beam deposition of nanostructured PTFE on textured silicon surfaces

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Abstract

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-like films, produced by electron beam (e-beam) deposition, have shown higher hydrophobicity than those deposited by RF sputtering under similar deposition rates. It was found that this results from both surface chemical composition and nano-roughness. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements revealed that larger moieties of CF2 and CF3 groups were present to reduce surface energy in the e-beam deposited films. RF sputtering led to a higher degree of PTFE target fragmentation producing a different perfluorinated film on the Si substrate. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements revealed a much larger rms roughness on the film surfaces produced by e-beam (25.13 nm, at 20 mA) than those by RF sputtering (2.42 nm, at 100 W), and allowed a broad power spectrum density analysis with determination of the κ B wetting parameter. In addition, the e-beam deposited films presented a linear increase of contact angle with applied electron current in the range under study (5–20 mA). This allows easy water repellency adjustment, up to 159 ± 2°. For a superhydrophobic state with self-cleaning, a micro-pyramid structure was wet etched on the Si wafer, followed by PTFE deposition, and a very low contact angle (163 ± 2°) and hysteresis was attained (<3°). These first results indicate that e-beam PTFE deposition with adjustable hydrophobicity may become a useful technique for integrated production with present Si microelectronics technology and for Si solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

This paper was partly supported by the Brazilian financial agencies CNPq, CAPES, and FAPERGS. We also wish to thank the Center for Microscopy at UFRGS (CME) for allowing the use of its facilities for the SEM measurements, as well as the Fraunhofer-IOF, particularly Drs. Angela Duparré and Luisa Coriand, for AFM measurements and valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade de Caxias do Sul, CP 1352, Caxias do Sul, RS, CEP 95001-970, Brazil

    A. F. Michels

  2. Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais, Araxá, MG, CEP 38.180.510, Brazil

    P. A. Soave

  3. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência dos Materiais, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, CP 15003, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 91501-970, Brazil

    J. Nardi, P. L. G. Jardim, S. R. Teixeira, D. E. Weibel & F. Horowitz

  4. Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, CP 15051, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 91501-970, Brazil

    S. R. Teixeira & F. Horowitz

  5. Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, CP 15003, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP 91501-970, Brazil

    D. E. Weibel

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  1. A. F. Michels
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Michels, A.F., Soave, P.A., Nardi, J. et al. Adjustable, (super)hydrophobicity by e-beam deposition of nanostructured PTFE on textured silicon surfaces. J Mater Sci 51, 1316–1323 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9449-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-015-9449-3

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