Preparation of super water-repellent membrane by radiation-induced copolymerization

Super water-repellent surfaces are generally introduced by controlling the surface chemistry and surface roughness, which are applied by means of complex time-consuming processes. We describe a simple method for forming super water-repellent surfaces using 60Coγ irradiation induced hexafluoropropylene/ethyl methacrylate (HFP/EMA) vapor phase copolymerization under atmospheric pressure conditions. The resulting coral-reef-like microtexture surface has a water contact angle of 153°. The method described here could easily be extended to preparing superhydrophobic surface from a wide variety of materials.