Oil-immersion stable superamphiphobic coatings for long-term super liquid-repellency

Abstract

• The coatings consist of pre-modified SiO 2 nanoparticles with high-degree densification. • The coatings exhibit stable superamphiphobicity under prolonged immersion of mixed oils. • The performance is over 20 times more immersion-durable against pre-existing surfaces. • Coated impellers achieve up to 65% contamination-resistance under accelerated testing. Superamphiphobic coatings have attracted tremendous interest from both academia and industry owing to their potential for self-cleaning and anti-fouling. However, many state-of-the-art superamphiphobic coatings are unable to preserve their super-repellent properties after prolonged liquid immersion. Thus, practical applications have so far been drastically limited. Herein, we highlight the immersion-stable performance of a nanostructurally-densified superamphiphobic coating possessing super liquid repellency to water and various low-surface-tension liquids. They exhibit excellent superoleophobic properties and functional stability even after prolonged immersion in mixed synthetic and vegetable oils. This immersion-stable superamphiphobic coating was also tested on household kitchen appliances under real-world conditions. Particularly inaccessible components such as the impeller and grease traps of range hoods were coated. Impellers demonstrate an improvement of up to 65% contamination-resistance while grease traps remained largely dry after collected oils were disposed. These findings highlight the potential of using nanostructurally-densified superampiphobic coatings as anti-fouling surfaces in the kitchen environment, with potential applications in petroleum extraction and oil transportation.