A Durable and Self-Cleaning Superhydrophobic Surface Prepared by Precipitating Flower-Like Crystals on a Glass-Ceramic Surface

• Published in: Materials Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 1642
• Main Authors: Fu, Haiqing, Liu, Shuo, Yi, Lanlin, Jiang, Hong, Li, Changjiu, Chen, Yongjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.04.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Alkaline cleaning; Chemical vapor deposition; Contact angle; Corrosion; Crystallization; Crystals; dual-scale roughness; Durability; durable; Glass ceramics; glass-ceramic; Grafting; Heat; Hydrofluoric acid; Hydrophobic surfaces; Hydrophobicity; Lasers; Nanocrystals; Plasma etching; Self-assembly; self-cleaning; superhydrophobic; Surface stability; Synergistic effect; Three dimensional flow; China; Japan; crystallization; durable; self-cleaning; dual-scale roughness; glass-ceramic; superhydrophobic
• ISSN: 1996-1944; 1996-1944
• DOI: 10.3390/ma13071642

Herein, a superhydrophobic surface with superior durability was fabricated on a glass-ceramic surface by crystallization, hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching, and surface grafting. The as-prepared glass-ceramic surface was composed of three-dimensional flower-like micro-clusters, which were self-assembled from numerous nanosheets. Such a dual-scale rough surface exhibited superhydrophobicity, with a water contact angle (WCA) of 170.3° ± 0.1° and a sliding angle (SA) of ~2° after grafting with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (FAS-17). This can be attributed to the synergistic effect between the dual-scale structure and surface chemistry. Furthermore, this surface exhibited excellent self-cleaning properties, stability against strong acid and strong alkali corrosion, and anti-stripping properties.