Patent ID: 8486319

Claim:
A method for manufacturing an article formed of a polymeric material and having at least one of a hydrophobic and self-cleaning outer surface, the method for manufacturing comprising the steps of: (i) providing an embossing die formed of a metallic material, the metallic material having at least one of a microstructure which is fine-grained with an average grain size between 2 and 5,000 nm and an amorphous microstructure; (ii) incorporating surface structures into at least an exposed metallic material surface portion of the embossing die, the metallic material surface structures increasing the contact angle for water at room temperature to over 90° and rendering the inherently hydrophilic surface of the metallic material hydrophobic; and (iii) imprinting at least a portion of an outer surface of the article directly with the imprinted metallic material surface portion of the embossing die to increase the contact angle for water at room temperature of said outer surface portion of the article to at least 130° and decrease the tilt angle for water at room temperature of said outer surface portion of the article to less than or equal to 25°.