Superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces by deposition of micelles of fluorinated block copolymers

Superhydrophobic surfaces are generated by chemisorption on aluminum substrates of fluorinated block copolymers synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer in supercritical carbon dioxide. In an appropriate solvent, those block copolymers can form micelles with a fluorinated corona, which are grafted on the aluminum substrate thanks to the presence of carboxylic acid groups in the corona. Water contact angle and drop impact analysis were used to characterize the wettability of the films at the macroscale, and atomic force microscopy measurements provided morphological information at the micro- and nanoscale. The simple solvent casting of the polymer solution on a hydroxylated aluminum surface results in a coating with multiscale roughness, which is fully superhydrophobic over areas up to 4 cm(2).