Characterization of the Durability of Super-Hydrophobic Surfaces Produced by Nanoparticle Vapor Deposition

Characterization of durability of super-hydrophobic surfaces produced by nanoparticles vapor deposition.

 One of the main reasons for early failure of personal electronic gadgets is stiction of water droplets to circuit boards within the equipment. To mitigate this problem, a number of super-hydrophobic films were deposited on silicon wafers produced by different vapor deposition techniques and were tested for their durability. These coated wafers were subjected to a gravity driven water jet as a means of examining the durability of the nanoparticles coating, and the contact angle of the eroded films were measured by contact angle goniometry. Static contact angles above 160⁰ are classified as super-hydrophobic. As such the time to failure for the films from the water erosion tests was determined as the time at which the static contact angle fell below 160⁰. The properties which make the surfaces super-hydrophobic and the degree of durability of the coatings were characterized by surface imaging techniques such as Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Based on these findings, the effects of  surface roughness and surface coverage on the durability of the super-hydrophobic films will be discussed.