Abrasion resistant semitransparent self-cleaning coatings based on porous silica microspheres and polydimethylsiloxane

Abstract

Transparent, abrasion-resistant and superhydrophobic coatings have attracted considerable interest owing to their great advantages in applications. In this work, a semitransparent abrasion-resistant superhydrophobic coating was attained via depositing suspensions of porous silica microspheres and polydimethylsiloxane, followed by calcining and fluorating process. Herein, the porous silica microspheres were fabricated through a template method. Consequently, the coating exhibited a water contact angle of 153°, a hexane contact angle of 100° and an average optical transparency of 78%. Significantly, the coating displayed a robust resistance against sandpaper abrasion and knife-scratch. Furthermore, the coating also exhibited excellent self-cleaning performance even after it was contaminated by oil.