Fabrication of a transparent superamphiphobic coating with improved stability

Abstract

We herein provide an effective method to fabricate a transparent superamphiphobic coating with superhydrophobicity and near-superoleophobicity, the finished coating also shows improved stability under various measurements. To do this, a transparent superhydrophobic coating was first prepared with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and hydrophobic silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) nanoparticles. Then the coating was sintered to degrade the PDMS into SiO 2 before it was further oxidized into silanol (Si-OH). Finally, the coating was treated with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-Perfluorooctyl-trichlorosilane (PFTS). The PFTS treated coating shows transparency, superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 152.7 AE 2.1 and near-superoleophobicity with a diiodomethane contact angle of 140.7 AE 3.2 . The droplets of water and diiodomethane can simultaneously slide off the surface with a sliding angle of less than 6 . Moreover, the PFTS treated coating shows a higher stability than the PDMS/SiO 2 coating fabricated by spin coating under various environmental conditions. The PFTS treated coating also shows quite good stability under high temperature environment. The superamphiphobic properties, transparency and improved stability of the PFTS treated coating are systemically discussed and the results show that the finished coating may be appropriate for many outdoor applications.

Recent developments in polymeric superoleophobic surfaces

“…117 The transmittance of glass substrates with these coatings is higher than 80% in the wavelength region of 340 to 800 nm. The average height of the coatings is about 380 nm and the average roughness of all samples is about 80 nm, which is lower than the allowable maximum (100 nm) for good transparency.…”

Preparation of stable superamphiphobic surfaces on Ti-6Al-4V substrates by one-step anodization

“…However, creating superamphiphobic surfaces has proven to be A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t much more difficult than creating superhydrophobic surfaces, because specific rough structures, such as overhang or re-entrant structure, are essential to the fabrication of superamphiphobic surfaces [13,14]. To date, some different methods, including chemical etching [15], sol-gel process [16], surface coating [17,18], spray and laser etching [19,20], have been proposed to fabricate superamphiphobic surfaces with hierarchical micro-nano structures. These methods undoubtedly provide feasible solutions on the fabrication of superamphiphobic surfaces on metal substrates.…”

Chemical and Physical Pathways for Fabricating Flexible Superamphiphobic Surfaces with High Transparency

“…In recent years, the focus has shifted towards industrial applications and multi-functionality in the fabricated surfaces (including reflection and transparency switchability) [52,53]. However, many strategies to hydrophobize surfaces are not easily applicable to large surface areas [54]. Therefore, it is necessary to find new approaches for the preparation and application of hydrophobic and mechanicallydurable stable coatings for large multipurpose areas [55].…”