Fabrication of super-hydrophobic nano-sized copper films by electroless plating

Super-hydrophobic nano-sized copper films were fabricated on smooth glass substrates by an improved electroless plating technology. The copper film deposited for 1 min showed extremely high hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 138.0o and super-hydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 152.4o when it was modified with 1-octadecanethiol (CH3–(CH2)17–SH). Such super-hydrophobicity is attributed to the combined roles of the surface hierarchical structure consisting of the micro-sized island-shaped agglomerates that are composed of the nano-sized copper nodules and the low surface energy formed through the chemical modification.