No abstract

A superhydrophobic ORMOSIL (organically modified silicate) coating was in situ fabricated on a wood surface by ammonia-hexamethylisilazane (HMDS) vapor treatment. The wood was immerged in tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), and then the TEOS absorbed on the wood surface was hydrolyzed and condensed to hydrophobic SiO 2 nanoparticles with ammonia and HDMS vapor treatment. The effect of the treatment temperature and time on the hydrophobicity of wood was investigated. At a treatment temperature of 50 • C, a superhydrophobic surface was achieved on the wood with a treatment time longer than 2 h. SEM images indicated that there were SiO 2 nanoparticles fabricated on the wood surface, and FTIR revealed that the hydrophobic -Si(CH 3 ) 3 groups were incorporated on the wood surface. The ORMOSIL-modified wood possessed improved liquid repellency. The water absorption decreased significantly from 72.3% to 31.9% after modification.