Induced hydrophobic recovery of oxygen plasma-treated surfaces

Plasma treatment is a widely used method in microfabrication laboratories and the plasticware industry to functionalize surfaces for device bonding and preparation for mammalian cell culture. However, spatial control of plasma treatment is challenging because it typically requires a tedious masking step that is prone to alignment errors. Currently, there are no available methods to actively revert a surface from a treated hydrophilic state to its original hydrophobic state. Here, we describe a method that relies on physical contact treatment (PCT) to actively induce hydrophobic recovery of plasma-treated surfaces. PCT involves applying brushing and peeling processes with common wipers and tapes to reverse the wettability of hydrophilized surfaces while simultaneously preserving hydrophilicity of non-contacted surfaces. We demonstrate that PCT is a user-friendly method that allows 2D and 3D surface patterning of hydrophobic regions, and the protection of hydrophilic surfaces from unwanted PCT-induced recovery. This method will be useful in academic and industrial settings where plasma treatment is frequently used.