Construction of a durable superhydrophobic surface based on the oxygen inhibition layer of organosilicon resins

Abstract

In this paper, we report a method to improve the adhesion of superhydrophobic coatings by using the unreacted groups on the surface of methyl vinyl silicone resin caused by oxygen polymerization inhibition during the UV curing process. The oxygen inhibition layer was used as a reactive site to bind unreacted vinyl groups of modified vinyl-SiO2 nanoparticles to the surface. Using a simple dip-coating method, the modified SiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the surface of the oxygen inhibition layer. Through a double-curing system with the advantages of both thermal-condensation curing and UV curing, superhydrophobic coatings with good light transmittance (>80%) and water immersion resistance were prepared facilely and rapidly. Nano-SiO2 formed a relatively uniform hierarchical rough structure on the surface of the silicone coating, and there was a compact gap between the bulges, which greatly reduced the contact area between the water droplets and the surface, thus forming an “air cushion” consistent with the Cassie-Baxter model. When the mass fraction of the vinyl-SiO2 nanoparticles was 1.2wt%, the water contact angle was 154° and the rolling angle was below 5°.