Tunable morphology of 2D honeycomb-patterned films and the hydrophobicity of a ferrocenyl-based oligomer

Honeycomb-patterned polymer films with tunable pore size and regularity of ordered two- or three-dimensional hexagonal arrays have met with widespread interest in recent years in different areas, for instance as separation and superhydrophobic materials. Herein, 2D honeycomb-patterned films of amphiphilic ferrocenyl-based oligomer with cholesterol as side chains were prepared by the breath-figure method on solid surfaces and their surface-wetting behavior were tested. These films can be simply prepared by spreading a mixture of polymer and organic solvents on a solid surface under moist airflow and at an air/water interface without any extra moist airflow. An ordered 2D hexagonal array of pores with monodisperse size distribution can be obtained over a large area by changing various influencing factors, including humidity, wet volume, concentration, selective solvent, and spreading method, which provides a facile route to regulate the morphology of patterned porous films. The surface-wetting behavior indicates that a higher hydrophobicity of the ferrocenyl-based oligomer honeycomb films can be obtained by modulating the pore size and regularity. It is expected that this could promote the potential application of ordered porous polymer films in hydrophobic materials and biochemistry.