Preparation and properties of a super-hydrophobic, electromagnetic interference shielding titanium nitride film

A super-hydrophobic, electromagnetic shielding titanium nitride (TiN) film was prepared using reactive magnetron sputtering by adjusting the sputtering power (30, 90, 180 and 250 W). The results showed that preferred orientation of the film had an obvious change with increasing sputtering power. At 30 W, too low sputtering power was not conducive to the crystallization of the film. At 90 W, TiN film grew toward [200] preferred orientation with a flat and compact surface, while the preferred orientation was [111] at 180 and 250 W with an uneven surface. Higher sputtering power could construct a low energy and high roughness surface which was helpful to improve the hydrophobic property. The water contact angle of the as-prepared TiN film at 250 W was 151.3°, indicating the achievement of super-hydrophobic property. Due to the decrease of electrical resistivity, the increase of film thickness and the special microstructure of pyramidal nanoparticles, the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of TiN film at sputtering power of 250 W was about 40 dB, meaning that TiN film had good expect to be a super-hydrophobic, electromagnetic shielding material in the industrial field.