Transparent and durable superhydrophobic coatings for anti-bioadhesion

Although thousands of superhydrophobic coatings have been reported, transparent ones with high durability are rare. Here, transparent and durable superhydrophobic coatings were prepared by using multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as the templates. The superhydrophobic coatings were prepared by spray-coating the homogeneous suspension of polysiloxane-modified MWCNTs (MWCNTs@POS) in toluene onto glass slides, calcination in air at 500 degrees C to form the silica nanotubes (SNTs), and then chemical vapor deposition of polydimethylsiloxane at 200 degrees C onto the surface of the SNTs coatings. The MWCNTs@POS suspension was prepared by hydrolytic condensation of hexadecyltrimethoxysilane and tetraethoxysilane on the surface of MWCNTs. The coatings showed excellent superhydrophobicity (water contact angle =166.6 degrees, sliding angle = 1 degrees) and high transparency (83.1% at 600 nm). In addition, the transparent superhydrophobic coatings featured high mechanical, chemical and thermal durability. The coatings retained the excellent superhydrophobicity after intensive water jetting at 100 kPa for 60 min, immersion in various corrosive liquids for 24 h, or kept at 390 degrees C for 1 h. Moreover, the transparent and durable superhydrophobic coatings exhibited very good anti-bioadhesive properties. (C) 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.