Breath-figure self-assembly

"Breath-figure" refers to the fog that forms when water vapor contacts a cold surface.

[1][2][3] In the modern era systematic study of the process of breath-figures water condensation was carried out by Aitken[4][5] and Rayleigh,[6][7] among others.

[11][12] The reported process was based on the rapidly evaporated polymer solutions exerted to humidity.

[13][14][15] The introduction to experimental techniques involved in manufacturing of micropatterned surfaces is supplied in reference 1; image representing typical breath-figures-inspired honeycomb pattern is shown in Figure 1.

[13][16] A variety of experimental techniques were successfully exploited for the formation of breath-figures self-assembly induced patterns including drop-casting, dip-coating and spin-coating.

Schematic (bottom) and electron micrographs (top) of the growth of a honeycomb polystyrene film by breath-figure self-assembly.
SEM images of varied patterns created through an adapted breath figure approach. [1]
A water filter membrane prepared by breath-figure self-assembly, viewed at different synthesis steps and magnifications. The membrane material is a mixture of poly(phenylene oxide) and silica nanoparticles.