A Facile Approach for Fabricating Microstructured Surface Based on Etched Template by Inkjet Printing Technology

• Main Authors: Jiazhen Sun, Chenghu Yun, Bo Cui, Pingping Li, Guangping Liu, Xin Wang, Fuqiang Chu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-10-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: inkjet printing; etched template; microstructured surface; anisotropic wettability
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/10/11/1209

Microstructures are playing an important role in manufacturing functional devices, due to their unique properties, such as wettability or flexibility. Recently, various microstructured surfaces have been fabricated to realize functional applications. To achieve the applications, photolithography or printing technology is utilized to produce the microstructures. However, these methods require preparing templates or masks, which are usually complex and expensive. Herein, a facile approach for fabricating microstructured surfaces was studied based on etched template by inkjet printing technology. Precured polydimethylsiloxane substrate was etched by inkjet printing water-soluble polyacrylic acid solution. Then, the polydimethylsiloxane substrate was cured and rinsed, which could be directly used as template for fabricating microstructured surfaces. Surfaces with raised dots, lines, and squares, were facilely obtained using the etched templates by inkjet printing technology. Furthermore, controllable anisotropic wettability was exhibited on the raised line microstructured surface. This work provides a flexible and scalable way to fabricate various microstructured surfaces. It would bring about excellent performance, which could find numerous applications in optoelectronic devices, biological chips, microreactors, wearable products, and related fields.