Hydrophobic nanopatterning on a flexible gas barrier film by using a poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomer

Abstract

In this work, we fabricated a hydrophobic and transparent gas barrier film via a nanopatterned poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomer imprinting on an ultraviolet-curable polymer resin. A Ca degradation method (water permeation rate) and surface energy measurements were used to determine the level of modification of the surface characteristics. As a result, the decreased surface energy from 25.8 to 7.29 mN m(-1) led to a lower water vapor transmission rate from 3.06 x 10(-1) to 6.24 x 10(-2) g m(-2) day(-1) according to the degree of decreased Ca height from 100 nm. A tunable wettability is beneficial for application where controlling the direction of moisture flow is important, such as in flexible organic electronics.