Fabrication of superhydrophobic metallic surface by wire electrical discharge machining for seamless roll-to-roll printing

Abstract

This paper presents a proposal of a direct one-step method to fabricate a multi-scale superhydrophobic metallic seamless roll mold. The mold was fabricated using the wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) technique for a roll-to-roll imprinting application to produce a large superhydrophobic surface. Taking advantage of the exfoliating characteristic of the metallic surface, nano-sized surface roughness was spontaneously formed while manufacturing the micro-sized structure: that is, a dual-scale hierarchical structure was easily produced in a simple one-step fabrication with a large area on the aluminum metal surface. This hierarchical structure showed superhydrophobicity without chemical coating. A roll-type seamless mold for the roll-to-roll process was fabricated through engraving the patterns on the cylindrical substrate, thereby enabling to make a continuous film with superhydrophobicity.