A novel technique is described that uses stretching-controlled thermal micromolding with etched metal surfaces as templates for the mass-production of superhydrophobic polymer films. First, the metal surface is etched and then used as a template to thermally replica-mold the polymer (e.g., polyethylene). The resulting film surfaces exhibited stable superhydrophobicity with water contact angles >1508 and sliding angles
78. SEM imaging demonstrates that the microstructure on the superhydrophobic surface is formed by stretching from the microholes of the template during separation. This technique can be easily combined with melt-flow casting for manufacturing superhydrophobic
polymer surfaces on a large scale.