Superhydrophobic properties of silver-coated films on copper surface by galvanic exchange reaction

Hydrophobic properties of thin nanostructured silver films produced by galvanic exchange reaction on a copper surface were studied after passivation with stearic acid. The morphology of the silver films was controlled by varying the concentration of silver nitrate in the solution. Water contact angle as high as 156° and contact angle hysteresis as low as 5° were achieved for samples obtained with initial silver ion concentration of 24.75 mM in the solution. However, a strong dependence of contact angle and contact angle hysteresis on the fractal-like morphology of the silver films was observed with the variation of silver ion concentration.