Fused Deposition Modelling

Abstract

Studies on surface wettability have received tremendous interest due to their potential

applications in research and industrial processes. One of the strategies to tune surface

wettability is modifying surface topography at micro- and nanoscales. In this research,

periodic micro- and nanostructures were patterned on several polymer surfaces by

ultra-precision single point diamond turning to investigate the relationships between

surface topographies at the micro- and nanoscales and their surface wettability. This

research revealed that single-point diamond turning could be used to enhance the

wettability of a variety of polymers, including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene

1000 (PE1000), polypropylene copolymer (PP), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PFTE),

which cannot be processed by conventional semiconductor-based manufacturing

processes. Materials exhibiting common wettability properties ( 90 ) changed to

exhibit superhydrophobic behavior ( 150 ). Compared with the size of the

structures, the aspect ratio of the void space between micro- and nanostructures has a

strong impact on surface wettability