Abs. 50, 205th Meeting, 2004 The Electrochemical Society, Inc.

. Fabrication of Anisotropic Super Hydrophobic/Hydrophilic Porous Membranes by Plasma Polymerization of C4F8 on Anodic Aluminum Oxide Dmitri A. Brevnov*, Marcos Barela, Gabriel P. Lpez and Plamen B. Atanassov Department of Chemical and Nuclear Engineering, Center for Micro-Engineered Materials, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87131, USA close to 0 (Figure 4). The fabricated freestanding AAO membranes with only one hydrophobic surface are expected to find applications in design of new systems for separation and filtration; gas and liquid transport devices such as gas-diffusion electrodes for miniature power sources and sensors. References 1. Masuda H., Satoh M., Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 35, L126 (1996). 2. Furneaux R. C., Rigby W. R., Davidson A. P., Nature, 337, 147, (1989). 3. Fluorinated Surfaces, Coatings, and Films, Castner D.G., Grainger D. W., (Eds.), ACS symposium series; 787, (2001).

Freestanding anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes, containing an extreme gradient in hydrophobicity from one side to the other, were fabricated using a two-step anodization procedure,1 voltage reduction method2 and inductively coupled plasma polymerization.3 The fabrication process included the following general steps. Initially, the two-step anodization procedure was employed to grow a layer of porous aluminum oxide. Next, the voltage reduction method was applied to separate the AAO membrane from the underlying aluminum substrate. Upon completion, the AAO membrane was still attached to aluminum on the periphery of the anodized area. Subsequently, inductively coupled plasma polymerization of C4F8 was employed to deposit a fluorocarbon film on the top of porous aluminum oxide. Finally, the aluminum foil was cut along the edges of anodized area and the freestanding AAO membrane, with the fluorocarbon film on the top, was spontaneously detached from the aluminum substrate. The fabrication process was monitored with electrochemical and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements, XPS, FT-IR and SEM. Figure 1 shows the SEM micrograph of AAO membrane before deposition of fluorocarbon film, while Figure 2 demonstrates the same AAO membrane after deposition of approximately 120 nm fluorocarbon film. Analysis of these micrographs confirms that the porous structure is still preserved. The pore diameter decreases from 160 nm to 80 nm and the interpore distance remain the same. Static contact angle measurements demonstrated that the two surfaces of the fabricated AAO membranes have dramatically different degrees of hydrophobicity. The contact angle of water on the side modified with the fluorocarbon film was 150 (Figure 3), whereas the contact angle on the other, hydrophilic side, which was initially attached to the aluminum substrate, was