Abstract
Hierarchical micro/nano-structured transparent superhydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene films with water contact angle 168°, water sliding angle <1° and visible transmittance >90% were prepared on glass via aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition.
Highlights
Inspired by surfaces found in nature, such as the leaves of the Lotus plant and the skin of water walking arthropods that show an apparent water contact angle (CA) larger than 150 and low contact angle hysteresis,[1,2,3] superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted considerable scienti c attention in a range of elds such as self-cleaning and anti-corrosion.[4,5]
There are two types of superhydrophobic surfaces – one described by the Wenzel model whereby the water droplet forms an intimate contact with the surface, and another described by the Cassie–Baxter model where the droplet rests on the solid/gas composite formed from air that is trapped by grooves between surface features
This paper describes the novel single step synthesis of highly transparent and superhydrophobic PTFE coatings using aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD)
Summary
There is great interest in visible light transparent superhydrophobic surfaces due to their applications in architectural glazing, screens for electronic devices and protective layers for solar panels.[23]. In an effort to achieve mass production of transparent superhydrophobic surfaces, some facile methods have been reported.[27,28,29] Modi ed nanoparticles have been widely used to prepare transparent coatings as they can provide the rough structure and low surface energy. M. Drabik et al have successfully used RF magnetron sputtering to prepare PTFE coatings with excellent superhydrophobicity with water CA as high as 170.31 the lms were not transparent and the operation of RF magnetron sputtering was comparably complex. The precursors need not be volatile, only soluble in a suitable solvent This allows a wide range of precursors that are usually unsuitable for traditional CVD techniques to be used. AACVD has been used to fabricate a wide range of materials (TiO2, GaAs, BiOX (where X 1⁄4 Cl, Br, I), SnO2: F) for a wide range of applications (e.g. photocatalysis, photovoltaics and transparent conducting oxides).[34,35,36] AACVD has been previously employed to make non-transparent polymeric superhydrophobic coatings.[37,38] This paper describes the novel single step synthesis of highly transparent (over 90% transmittance of visible light) and superhydrophobic PTFE coatings using AACVD
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