US Patent 6845788 Fluid handling component with ultraphobic surfaces

A fluid handling component having a durable ultraphobic fluid contact surface that is capable of exhibiting ultraphobic properties at liquid pressures of one atmosphere and above. The surface generally includes a substrate portion with a multiplicity of projecting regularly shaped microscale or nanoscale asperities disposed so that the surface has a predetermined contact line density measured in meters of contact line per square meter of surface area equal to or greater than a contact line density value “ΛL” determined according to the formula:ΛL=-10⁢,⁢330γcos⁡(θa,0+ω-90⁢°)where γ is the surface tension of the liquid in Newtons per meter, θa,0 is the experimentally measured true advancing contact angle of the liquid on the asperity material in degrees, and ω is the asperity rise angle in degrees.