Soft blasting of fluorinated polymers: The easy way to superhydrophobicity

In this paper, we propose a new method for fabricating superhydrophobic surfaces. We use polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as representative fluorinated polymer, and show that a few seconds blasting treatment of this material, with sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) grit, can lead to superhydrophobicity with optimum sliding performances. Such a wetting behavior is correlated to the multi-scale random roughness of the surface, generated by abrasion and tearing of polymer fibers during the blasting process. This method, compared to other techniques generating superhydrophobic surfaces, turns out simpler, much more cost-effective, and directly suitable for large-scale applications.