Superhydrophobic, highly adhesive arrays of copper hollow spheres produced by electro-colloidal lithography

We report the patterning of copper surfaces which display both superhydrophobicity and high adhesion thanks to a new feature geometry, and without resorting to chemical modification. Polystyrene beads organized in 2D crystals under an AC electric field act as a template for the growth of copper deposited via cupric ion-loaded multi-lamellar vesicles. After the removal of the beads, hexagonal arrays of supported hollow spheres or copper bowls are generated, depending on the amount of deposited copper. While the bowl-covered surfaces display a predictable decreasing wettability (Cassie model) as their wall height increases, the hollow sphere-covered surfaces exhibit both high adhesion and superhydrophobicity (Cassie-Baxter state).