Transparent Superhydrophobic and Self-Cleaning Coating

oleh: Binbin Zhang, Xiaochen Xue, Lixia Zhao, Baorong Hou

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-07-01

Deskripsi

Surface roughness and low surface energy are key elements for the artificial preparation of biomimetic superhydrophobic materials. However, the presence of micro-/nanostructures and the corresponding increase in roughness can increase light scattering, thereby reducing the surface transparency. Therefore, designing and constructing superhydrophobic surfaces that combine superhydrophobicity with high transparency has been a continuous research focus for researchers and engineers. In this study, a transparent superhydrophobic coating was constructed on glass substrates using hydrophobic fumed silica (HF-SiO<sub>2</sub>) and waterborne polyurethane (WPU) as raw materials, combined with a simple spray-coating technique, resulting in a water contact angle (WCA) of 158.7 ± 1.5° and a sliding angle (SA) of 6.2 ± 1.8°. Characterization tests including SEM, EDS, LSCM, FTIR, and XPS revealed the presence of micron-scale protrusions and a nano-scale porous network composite structure on the surface. The presence of HF-SiO<sub>2</sub> not only provided a certain roughness but also effectively reduced surface energy. More importantly, the coating exhibited excellent water-repellent properties, extremely low interfacial adhesion, self-cleaning ability, and high transparency, with the light transmittance of the coated glass substrate reaching 96.1% of that of the bare glass substrate. The series of functional characteristics demonstrated by the transparent superhydrophobic HF-SiO<sub>2</sub>@WPU coating designed and constructed in this study will play an important role in various applications such as underwater observation windows, building glass facades, automotive glass, and goggles.