Thermal roll to roll nanoimprint lithography for micropillars fabrication on thermoplastics

Abstract In the present work thermal roll to roll nanoimprint lithography process of various thermoplastic films (polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate and cellulose acetate) has been studied. To study the effect of the imprinting parameters on the process, the fabrication process of two different micropillars geometries has been carried out by fixing the imprinting speed, and changing the imprinting temperature and pressure, while the morphological characterization of the obtained microstructured films has been performed. Moreover, hydrophobic properties of the films have been measured to characterize the functionality of the surfaces. Among the studied three polymers, polycarbonate film has shown the best performance for the imprinting of both micropillars geometries, whereas cellulose acetate film didn't fully replicate the smallest micropillars. Polycarbonate film composed of 60 μm pitch and 40 μm height pillars has shown a static water contact angle value of 138°.