Synthesis of superhydrophobic nanocomposite coating films for self‐cleaning glass using nanoemulsion technique

Abstract

AbstractThis work aims to fabricate new potent superhydrophobic‐hybrid coated nanocomposites used as a self‐cleaning coating on the glass surface. Three (styrene/vinyl acetate) copolymers with monomer molar ratios of 0.06:0.17, 0.12:0.11, and 0.17:0.06 denoted as Z1‐, Z2‐, and Z3‐copolymers were synthesized using the emulsion phase inversion concentration (EPIC) method. Two functionalized SiO2‐NPs using dodecyl triethoxysilane and hexadecyl trimethoxysilane as coupling agents denoted as E‐NPs and F‐NPs, respectively were fabricated by a sol–gel process to promote the hydrophobicity properties of the synthesized SiO2‐NPs. New hybrid composites denoted as Py and Ty(y = 1, 2, and 3) were fabricated by incorporating 1, 3, and 5 wt% of the functionalized SiO2‐NPs (E‐NPs or F‐NPs) into the Z3‐copolymers matrix, respectively. The chemical structures of the synthesized copolymers, unfunctionalized SiO2‐NPs, and the hybrid composites were elucidated by FTIR and 1HNMR spectroscopes. The surface wettability and topography of the glass‐surface coated by synthesized (styrene/vinyl acetate) copolymers and the silica hybrid composites were analyzed using water contact angle, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopes. The results showed that a highly superhydrophobic coated hybrid composite with a contact angle of 161.48° was achieved by Z3‐copolymer/F5‐NPs denoted as T3‐composite at F5‐NPs concentration of 5 wt%.