Exploiting breath figure reversibility for in situ pattern modulation and hierarchical design.

ABSTRACT: The breath figure (BF) method employs condensation droplets as dynamic templates for patterning polymer films. In the classical approach, dropwise condensation and film solidification are simultaneously induced through solvent evaporation, leading to empirically derived patterns with limited predictability of the final design. Here we use the temporally arrested BF methodology, controlling condensation and polymerisation independently to create diverse BF patterns with varied pore size, arrangement and distribution. External temperature control enables us to further investigate and exploit the inherent reversibility of the phase change process that governs the pattern formation. We modulate the level of subcooling and superheating to achieve subsequent regimes of condensation and evaporati

SUBMITTER: Dent FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10091834 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature