Bio-based antismudge coating, as
a substitute for the petroleum-based
one, has excellent liquid repellency and self-cleaning ability, which
is of great value to keep a coated surface free of contaminants. In
this study, we report a facile strategy to fabricate high-performance
biobased hyperbranched polyurethane antismudge coatings. More specifically,
a castor oil-based hyperbranched polyol was employed as a coating
precursor, a hexamethylene diisocyanate trimer was used as the curing
agent, and a mono-hydroxyl-terminated poly(dimethysiloxane) (PDMS-OH)
was introduced as a low-surface-tension lubricant through covalent
bonding. Consequently, a highly transparent smooth coating was obtained
after the coating solution was completely cured. The coating loaded
with 0.5 wt % PDMS-OH exhibited superb liquid repellency and self-cleaning
ability, as attested by liquids such as water, hexadecane, peanut
oil, pump oil, salt solution, strong acid, and strong alkali solutions
that could slide off the coated surfaces cleanly. In addition, even
after 1000 writing and erasing cycles, the coating still retained
its ability to contract ink traces and the contracted ink could be
easily removed with tissue paper. Apart from antigraffiti and antifingerprint
performance, the coating applied on tin plate surfaces showed an adhesion
grade of 5B and a pencil hardness of 3H and displayed superior corrosion
resistance. Furthermore, this mechanically robust coating could withstand
1000 abrasion cycles without sacrificing its ink contraction ability.
Therefore, this biobased antismudge coating should provide an alternative
avenue for developing green and sustainable functional coatings.