In this paper, nano SiO2 particles modified organic silane coatings were successfully prepared to aim at the application of the self-cleaning coating on PMMA substrate for deep-sea optical windows. The chemicals, surface microstructure, wettability, hardness, adhesion, transparency, water scouring resistance as well as microorganism attachment rate of the coatings were investigated. The results showed that adding SiO2 nanoparticles into the organic silicon coating can effectively improve the hydrophobicity due to generating a micro-nano structure surface. However, excessive addition would result in a decrease in hydrophobicity, adhesion, as well as transparency, due to the inorganic SiO2 particle destroying the integrity of the organic coating. The optimal coating was obtained by adding 0.5 wt% nano SiO2 particles, which possessed a water contact angle of 114.2°, hardness of 4H, adhesion level of 0, and visible light transmittance of 0.886. After 40-h water scouring, the water contact angle decreased to 108.3° and the visible light transmittance decreased to 0.839, suggesting good water scouring resistance. The microorganism attachment rate of the S05 coating was 0.17% after a 6 h immersion test, which was about half that of the PMMA substrate.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.