Superhydrophobic modification of polyimide films based on gold-coated porous silver nanostructures and self-assembled monolayers

We present a facile and effective method for controlling the surface hydrophobicity of polyimide films from sticky to superhydrophobic properties by tailoring their topographies. Nanostructured silver layers were produced on polyimide films by treatment with aqueous KOH and AgNO3, followed by thermal treatment at 200 °C or higher temperatures. Further modification of the gold-coated silver layers with n-dodecanethiol led to hydrophobic surfaces. Different morphologies of the silver layers at the micro- and nano-meter scales, which result in the variety of hydrophobicity, can be tailored by controlling the thermal treatment temperature. Surfaces prepared at 320 °C showed a sticky property that water drops did not slide off even when the sample was held upside down. Superhydrophobic surfaces were obtained when the temperature was above 340 °C. A remarkable superhydrophobicity, as evidenced by a very large water contact angle of 162° and a very small sliding angle of 7°, was achieved by heating the modified polyimide films at 360 °C. This is also the first example for superhydrophobic modification of polyimide films.