Fabrication of Robust and Antifouling Superhydrophobic Surfaces via Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Abstract

Superhydrophobic surfaces were fabricated via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization of fluorinated methacrylates on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabrics. The hydrophobicity of the PET fabric was systematically tunable by controlling the polymerization time. The obtained superhydrophobic fabrics showed excellent chemical robustness even after exposure to different chemicals, such as acid, base, salt, acetone, and toluene. Importantly, the fabrics maintained superhydrophobicity after 2500 abrasion cycles, 100 laundering cycles, and long time exposure to UV irradiation. Also, the surface of the superhydrophobic fabrics showed excellent antifouling properties.

Recent Advances in the Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Surfaces

“…to create appropriate roughness for coating. 9,16,2325,28 In addition, during the preparation process, it is worth mentioning that, when the prepared materials are coated on the substrate, the corresponding chemical reaction or ordered action may occur such as polymerization, 36 grafting, 74 self-assembly, 16 in situ growth, 26,27,75 and so on. Utilizing these actions, we can obtain expectable superhydrophobic coatings for a wide number of applications.…”

“…Taking advantage of the grafting method, a large number of superhydrophobic surfaces have been prepared. 13,19,29,74,8992 Among those, surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) is one of the prominent grafting methods to prepare superhydrophobic coatings. 93 It is particularly attractive for its mild reaction conditions, tolerance of impurities, and compatibility of wide monomers.…”

“…For example, Xue et al fabricated a robust and fouling-resistant superhydrophobic surface on the fabrics. 74 In this process ( Figure 5), the sodium hydroxide solution was chosen to achieve the chemical etching and roughness of the poly(ethylene glycol terephthalate) (PET) fabrics, ATRP initiators were immobilized on the fabrics, and the obtained fabrics were grafted by fluorinated methacrylate polymers with lowsurface energy through heat treatment. The hydrophobicity of the fabrics can be tunable by regulating the polymerization time systematically.…”

Synthetic routes to degradable copolymers deriving from the biosynthesized polyhydroxyalkanoates: A mini review

“…Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has been attracting much attention as a new route to synthesizing well-defined polymers [110,111]. Halogenated PHAs as macroinitiators can be used in ATRP of vinyl monomers to obtain the block, graft, or brush type multi-graft copolymers.…”

Auto-Drawing and Functionalization by Vapor-Phase Assisted Polymerization on Solid Surface

“…Fine surface design of solid materials has been attracting interest of many researchers, because there are a growing number of applicable fields, where fine surface creation methods are becoming increasingly important and even crucial, such as in printing [1], coating [2], and other applications using fibers [3], membranes [4], and biomedical materials [5,6]. In these fields, effective methodology to produce fine surface architectures as found in continuous micro arrays and complex 2D-patterns is a key point.…”