Hydrophobically recovered and contact printed siloxane oligomers for general-purpose surface patterning.

Hydrophobic recovery of elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has been well-known in various fields, such as microcontact printing (microCP), microfluidics, and electric insulation, etc., which has been believed to be due to the transfer of out-diffused siloxane oligomers in PDMS. The recovery phenomenon has been used to control surface energy of a substrate, due partly to its nanoscale thickness.