• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• 제24권6호
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• pp.219-223
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• 2015

Enhancement of the surface hydrophobicity of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin films deposited on substrates covered with titanium dioxide ($TiO_2$) nanospheres was studied. First, a low-temperature solution-phase method using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a surface capping agent and a water/dimethylformamide (DMF) mixture as the reaction medium was used to synthesize monodisperse $TiO_2$ nanospheres. It was possible to easily control hydrolysis rate of the Ti-precursors and the size of the synthesized nanospheres by varying the amount of PVP and the volume ratio of the solvent mixture. Spray coating of the synthesized $TiO_2$ nanospheres under the PDMS film increased the water contact angle of the film surface to $150.3^{\circ}$. This simple treatment can modify the surface morphology at a nanometer scale without any long or complicated nanoprocess; hence, the surface enters the superhydrophobic Cassie-Baxter regime.