Novel hydrophobic/hydrophilic patterning process by photocatalytic Ag nucleation on TiO2 thin film and electroless Cu deposition

A hydrophobic/super-hydrophilic pattern was prepared on a TiO2 thin film by a new fabrication process. The process consists of five key steps: (1) photocatalytic reduction of Ag+ to Ag (nucleation), (2) electroless Cu deposition, (3) oxidation of Cu to CuO, (4) deposition of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM), and (5) photocatalytic decomposition of selected areas of the SAM. A hydrophobic/super-hydrophilic pattern with 500-μm2 hydrophilic areas was obtained in this process. It is particularly noteworthy that a UV irradiation time of only 1 s was sufficient for the nucleation step in the patterning process.