Copper oxide layers obtained via anodization for electrowetting on dielectrics

In the present work copper was anodized in alkaline environment and the resulting oxide was employed as dielectric layer together with a fluoropolymer to test the possibility of performing electrowetting. The influence of some process variables on the anodization was evaluated and the optimized conditions were employed to obtain adherent and compact oxide layers, formed of pure cuprite. After the application of the polymeric layer, the possibility to perform electrowetting on the samples was investigated. Promising results were obtained after saturation and hysteresis tests, demonstrating the possibility to perform changes of wettability on coupled copper oxide/fluoropolymer surfaces.