Superhydrophobic nanocomposite coatings of poly(methyl methacrylate) and stearic acid grafted CuO nanoparticles with photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Herein, the applicability of a convenient approach for the fabrication of nanocomposite coatings of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) layers containing as-synthesized or stearic acid-modified CuO nanoparticles through spray coating of a textile surface is reported. The synthesized CuO nanoparticles had an average particle size of 90 nm. PMMA polymer was prepared with a molar mass of 60,000 g/mol and a polydispersity index of 1.6. The nanocomposite coatings and their components were characterized using several techniques including XRD, ATR-FTIR, SEM, EDX, TGA, GPC, UV–vis, DLS, and WCA measurements. The optimum nanocomposite coating (with a CuO/PMMA ratio of 5:1 and prepared from the modified CuO nanoparticles) presented the high water contact angle of 161° and the low sliding angle of 2°, thus demonstrating the superhydrophobic and self-cleaning properties of the surface. Moreover, the textile sample coated with the nanocomposite layer of the original CuO nanoparticles and PMMA presented faster photodegradation of rhodamine B as a model compound relative to the above-mentioned coating. An nth order power-law kinetic equation fit perfectly to the experimental data for the nanocomposite coatings of PMMA in combination with the modified and pure CuO nanoparticles.