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Cite this: DOI: 10.1039/c6ta01082b
Transparent and abrasion-resistant
superhydrophobic coating with robust selfcleaning function in either air or oil†
Published on 21 April 2016. Downloaded on 16/05/2016 08:50:19.
Peng Wang,*a Mingji Chen,b Huilong Han,a Xiaoliang Fan,a Qing Liua
and Jinfeng Wanga
This paper reports an easy method to prepare a transparent superhydrophobic coating which shows a robust
resistance to oil contamination, knife-scratch, sandpaper abrasion and strong acid/base attack. A PDMS
Received 3rd February 2016
Accepted 18th April 2016
interlayer was introduced to support the partially embedded fluoroalkylsilane treated silica nanoparticles,
and thus the coating retained superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning properties after knife-scratch or 9
sandpaper abrasion cycles. An OSP scraping ink bar was introduced to control the thickness of the silica
DOI: 10.1039/c6ta01082b
nanoparticle suspension, and thus the coating shows good transparency for visible light. Moreover, this
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transparent superhydrophobic coating shows self-cleaning properties in either air or oil environment.
Introduction
Aer a rainy day, water droplets adopt a perfect round shape
that roll on the surface of lotus leaves; the rolling motion picks
up and removes contaminants and dust. Inspired by this
phenomenon, superhydrophobic surfaces with water contact
angles greater than 150 and sliding angles below 10 have
attracted tremendous attention because of their numerous
applications in self-cleaning,1,2 anticorrosion,3,4 oil–water separation,5,6 and so forth. Extensive studies have revealed that
superhydrophobic surfaces result from the combination of
a rough surface with a special micro- and nano-structure and
low surface energy.7,8 A variety of articial superhydrophobic
surfaces have been developed by various approaches such as...