Facile synthesis of bio-sourced polyurethane- fluorosilane modified TiO2 hybrid coatings for high-performance self cleaning application

Abstract

In this study, modified Titanium nanoparticles (nTiO2) with 1H,1H,2H,2H–Perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane(FS). Water contact angle reports the abrupt changes in the water contact angle from unmodified TiO2 to modified TiO2 (8.9 to 153o). Further this was incorporated in to the polyurethane matrix to improve the in situ dispersion of polyurethane–FS-nTiO2 hybrid in a solution containing the castor oil, triethanolamine and isophornediisocyanate (IPDI) prepolymer. The resulting synthesis approach produced a uniformly dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles-polyurethane hybrid. This was confirmed by WAXD and AFM results. The degree of hydrophobicity was increased from 68 to 132°. Mechanical test revealed improved tensile strength of polyurethane with the incorporation of FS-nTiO2 from 4.2 MPa to 8.2 MPa and showed the best self-cleaning properties.