Spontaneous Structuration of Hydrophobic Polymer Surfaces in Contact with Salt Solutions

It has been described in previous chapters how spontaneous instabilities related to interfacial phenomena can be used to produce controlled patterns on polymer surfaces. Strategies of polymer patterning assisted by dewetting or water drop condensation were described. In this chapter we present a waterborne process based on the interaction between ions in water and hydrophobic polymer surfaces, modulated by the gases dissolved in the aqueous phase. We show how by controlling this interaction the polymer surface can be conveniently modified. In the first section of the chapter we describe some aspects of the interface between water and a hydrophobic surface. We then describe how the composition of the aqueous phase can have important consequences on the morphology of the hydrophobic surface, and then illustrate how this process can be conveniently used to modify the morphology of a hydrophobic polymer in a controlled manner.