Surface energy micropattern inheritance from mold to replica

We report a novel surface-energy patterning phenomenon, in which a novel polymer composition inherits the surface energy of the medium it is in contact with during polymerization. This surface property mimicking process occurs via spontaneous selective molecular alignment of hydrophilic and hydrophobic monomers mixed into an off-stoichiometry thiol-ene (OSTE) formulation. This single-step method for simultaneous structuring and surface energy micropatterning of polymer structures is potentially more robust and lower cost than state-of-the-art processes requiring post-processing surface modification steps. We further demonstrate the self-assembly of a liquid droplet array on the replicated polymer surfaces.