Robust superhydrophobicity on paper: Protection of spray-coated nanoparticles against mechanical wear by the microstructure of paper

• Published in: Surface & coatings technology Vol. 319; pp. 301 - 308
• Main Authors: Torun, Ilker, Onses, M. Serdar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 15.06.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Coating effects; Coatings; Contact angle; Deicing; Fluorination; Food packaging; Hydrophobic surfaces; Ice formation; Impact resistance; Low cost; Microstructure; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Organic liquids; Protective coatings; Robustness; Silicon dioxide; Sliding; Spray coating; Substrates; Superhydrophobic surfaces; Thin films; Ultrasonic testing; Wear; Wear tests; Thin films; Nanoparticles; Paper; Coatings; Superhydrophobic surfaces
• ISSN: 0257-8972; 1879-3347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2017.04.009

Practical applications require scalable, low cost and facile approaches to fabricate coatings that are repellent to liquids and yet are resistant to mechanical impact and abrasion which may occur during service operation of these materials. Here we report fabrication of superhydrophobic (SHP) coatings on paper substrates by one-step spray-coating of fluorinated silica nanoparticles. The coatings were extremely repellent to water and organic liquids with surface tensions higher than ~45mN/m, as demonstrated by the sliding angles that are lower than 5°. The coated paper substrates retained their liquid repellency behavior without any discernable change in their static contact and sliding angles following different mechanical wear tests. Mechanical robustness together with demonstrations in self-cleaning, anti-icing and food-packaging show great promise for the use of fabricated paper substrates in different applications. A significant finding of the present work is that the mechanical robustness of the spray-coated fluorinated silica nanoparticles in the absence of any polymeric matrix/binder was dramatically higher on paper in comparison to flat substrates. These results suggest that the inherent microstructure of the paper provides a suitable matrix for protecting the functionalized nanoparticles against external mechanical effects and present an effective strategy for improving the mechanical robustness of the coatings fabricated by one-step spray-coating of nanomaterials. [Display omitted] •Scalable fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces•High levels of repellency against organic liquids with surface tensions higher than 45mN/m•Mechanical robust coatings enabled by the microstructure of the paper•Demonstrations in self-cleaning, anti-icing and food packaging