Scalable superhydrophobic flexible plasmonic poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluorovinyl ether) films via ion-beam irradiation and metal deposition

In this study, we report a method to produce large-area superhydrophobic plasmonic poly(tetrafluoroethyleneco- perfluorovinyl ether) (PFA) films using room temperature and high-throughput processes, such as ion-beam irradiation and thermal evaporation. Ion-beam irradiation on large-area PFA films changes their surface wettability from hydrophobic to superhydrophobic, as nano-size pores are gradually formed on their surfaces according to the ion beam density. Following irradiation gold evaporation creates plasmonic characteristics on the nanoporous PFA films. Although gold films normally show hydrophilic properties (contact angle of similar to 80 degrees), gold-coated nanoporous PFA films exhibit superhydrophobicity (contact angle of similar to 150 degrees), thus resulting in a large-area flexible superhydrophobic plasmonic platform.