Transparent superhydrophobic coating based on a carbonaceous soot framework for the self-cleaning of glass

Abstract

Transparent superhydrophobic self-cleaning coatings are in high demand and play important roles in different fields, but balancing the superhydrophobicity and transparency of the resultant coatings remains a considerable challenge. An acceptable rough structure scale, coating thickness control and low-surface-energy matter are necessary for the development of a transparent superhydrophobic coating. We herein created a transparent superhydrophobic coating based on a carbonaceous soot framework without the use of fluorinated chemicals or low-surface-energy post-treatment. This transparent superhydrophobic coating was 1 μm in thickness while exhibiting a maximum visible light transparency of 97.5%. Because of the rapid droplet-bouncing ability of the transparent superhydrophobic coating, a variety of liquid contaminants such as acid, alkali, tea, milk and sewage droplets were able to bounce off the coating and kept the surface clean, enabling high-promoting applications in harsh and complex conditions.