Facile microfabrication of 3-dimensional (3D) hydrophobic polymer surfaces using 3D printing technology

Facile, cost-effective, rapid, and high-throughput fabrication of polymer-based hydrophobic surfaces was demonstrated using fused deposition modeling (FDM) three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. Four printing resolutions were investigated and compared to create improved hydrophobic surfaces using an inexpensive, curable polymer. One of the representative 3D structures (i.e., pyramidal structure) was prototyped, and its surface properties including wettability and roughness were characterized. The polymer surface from the low-resolution mold printed by the 3D printer showed the roughest surface, with a water contact angle of similar to 143 degrees, a surface roughness of 36.42 mu m, and a complete rolling-off behavior, thus presenting the most hydrophobic characteristics. The results of this study support the use of 3D printing technology for the rapid manufacture of scalable 3D structures with hydrophobic properties to control the wettability for use in various applications such as bioengineering, agriculture, hydrology, and aeronautics.