Design and testing of hydrophobic microstructured surfaces produced by vat photopolymerization

Current limits and potentialities in the fabrication of hydrophobic microstructured surfaces by means of Digital Light Processing additive manufacturing were investigated by testing different pillar-based geometries and analyzing the results in terms of quality of the printed features and resulting contact angle. Microstructure-alone induced transition from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity was achieved, though not to superhydrophobic levels. The influence of geometrical parameters was analyzed.