Microsculpturing of polymeric surfaces by compression molding

Surface micropatterning of polymers is an important process in a large number of applications ranging from microelectronics, sensors design and material science, to tissue engineering and cell biology. In this study a simple and versatile method for manufacturing microscale polymer surface patterns has been developed. Micropatterned surfaces of acrylonitrilebutadiene- styrene (ABS) were engineered by compression molding. Two different micropatterned surfaces were fabricated using diverse molds. The first micropatterning was achieved on a brass mold by the intersection of instrumented microindentation traces. The second microsculptured surface was realized through a bronze sintered mold. The morphological aspects and the surface wettability after microsculpturing were investigated. The microsculptured ABS surface produced by the sintered mold shows a higher contact angle compared with those of flat ABS surfaces. From the experimental results, it was found that the intrinsic hydrophobicity of the material is enhanced simply through increasing surface roughness of the solid surface. The method presented is an economical process to fabricate hydrophobic microsculptured surfaces and it is suitable for many kinds of materials.