Effect of local curvature on the interaction between hydrophobic surfaces

Surface structure, including roughness and chemical heterogeneities, is known to be of importance for the surface interaction forces observed between hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces. In this study, silica particles have been used to prepare structured particulated surfaces with a controlled roughness using Langmuir-Blodgett deposition or a drop coating technique. The surfaces were characterized by SEM and AFM. The AFM colloidal probe technique was employed for probing the interaction between a micro-size hydrophobic particle and hydrophobic surfaces with a sintered and silanized nano-sized silica particle monolayer. These measurements indicate that the adhesion force is increased by a decrease in particle size. Larger roughness gives larger crevices on the surface and more air/vapor accumulation but the capillary growth is impaired since the three-phase line (solid-liquid-air) has to move over a longer distance with an increase in the size of the surface features.