Zhang Lishen, Zhou Alvin G, Sun Brigitta R, Chen Kennedy S, Yu Hua-Zhong
Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada.
Nat Commun. 2021 Feb 12;12(1):982. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21219-y.
Superhydrophobic coatings have tremendous potential for applications in different fields and have been achieved commonly by increasing nanoscale roughness and lowering surface tension. Limited by the availability of either ideal nano-structural templates or simple fabrication procedures, the search of superhydrophobic coatings that are easy to manufacture and are robust in real-life applications remains challenging for both academia and industry. Herein, we report an unconventional protocol based on a single-step, stoichiometrically controlled reaction of long-chain organosilanes with water, which creates micro- to nano-scale hierarchical siloxane aggregates dispersible in industrial solvents (as the coating mixture). Excellent superhydrophobicity (ultrahigh water contact angle >170° and ultralow sliding angle <1°) has been attained on solid materials of various compositions and dimensions, by simply dipping into or spraying with the coating mixture. It has been demonstrated that these complete waterproof coatings hold excellent properties in terms of cost, scalability, robustness, and particularly the capability of encapsulating other functional materials (e.g. luminescent dyes).
超疏水涂层在不同领域具有巨大的应用潜力，通常通过增加纳米级粗糙度和降低表面张力来实现。由于理想的纳米结构模板或简单制造工艺的可用性有限，寻找易于制造且在实际应用中坚固耐用的超疏水涂层对学术界和工业界来说仍然具有挑战性。在此，我们报告了一种基于长链有机硅烷与水的单步、化学计量控制反应的非常规方法，该方法可生成可分散在工业溶剂中的微米至纳米级分级硅氧烷聚集体（作为涂层混合物）。通过简单地浸入或喷涂涂层混合物，在各种成分和尺寸的固体材料上获得了优异的超疏水性（超高水接触角>170°和超低滑动角<1°）。已经证明，这些完全防水的涂层在成本、可扩展性、坚固性方面具有优异的性能，特别是在封装其他功能材料（如发光染料）方面的能力。
