Anti-Wetting, Non-Stick Surfaces from a Photopolymer-Nanoparticle Formulation

A polymer film having a non-planar surface defined by a series of surface bumps and a plurality of nanoparticles in the polymer film, wherein the nanoparticles are more concentrated proximately to surface and in the surface bumps to provide anti-wetting and anti-stick properties. The polymer coating is formed by casting a thin layer of a photopolymerizable polymer precursor having a plurality of nanoparticles over a transparent substrate and then irradiating the thin layer from below with a periodic light field so that the photopolymerizable polymer precursor forms a polymer with a non-planar surface and the nanoparticles are concentrated proximately to the non-planar surface as a result of phase separation. The resulting film can be washed with a solvent to remove any uncured polymer and peeled away from the substrate for use as an anti-stick and anti-wetting coating.