Microscopic Surface Textures Created by Interfacial Flow Instabilities

In nature, microscopic surface textures impact useful function, such as the drag reduction of shark skin (Dean & Bhushan, 2010) and superhydrophobicity of the lotus leaf(Pan, Kota, Mabry, & Tuteja, 2013). In this study, we explore these phenomena by re-creating microscopic surface textures via the method of interfacial flow instability in drying polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) acetone solutions. In general, PVDF films can be made using either spin coating or electrospray deposition with various weight concentrations in acetone. In order to study the morphology of the porous structure of PVDF films, wet deposition samples were fabricated by spin coating or near-field electrospray. Possible theories are discussed and examined to explain the formation of these porous structures resulting in development of a well-controlled method to create porous PVDF films with various pore sizes and pore densities. All samples are characterized and found to exhibit superhydrophobicity and drag reduction. To connect porous PVDF film morphology to the established field of dry particle fabrication, PVDF particle synthesis by far-field electrospray is also reviewed and discussed. An established method to generate polymer particles of different morphologies in other polymers (Almería-Díez, 2012) by electrospray drying is confirmed using PVDF as well. Due to the ability of scalable and re-configurable electrospray, the microscopic surface textures can be applied to areas of any size to reduce drag or impart waterrepelling properties.