Durable and biocompatible superhydrophobic surfaces are of significant potential use in biomedical applications. Here, a nonfluorinated, elastic, superhydrophobic film that can be used for medical wound dressings to enhance their hemostasis function is introduced. The film is formed by titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which are chemically crosslinked in a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) matrix. The PDMS crosslinks result in large strain elasticity of the film, so that it conforms to deformations of the substrate. The photocatalytic activity of the titanium dioxide provides surfaces with both self‐cleaning and antibacterial properties. Facile coating of conventional wound dressings is demonstrated with this composite film and then resulting improvement for hemostasis. High gas permeability and water repellency of the film will provide additional benefit for medical applications.
Coatings with low sliding angles for liquid drops have a broad range of applications. However, it remains a challenge to have a fast, easy, and universal preparation method for coatings that are long‐term stable, robust, and environmentally friendly. Here, a one‐step grafting‐from approach is reported for poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) brushes on surfaces through spontaneous polymerization of dichlorodimethylsilane fulfilling all these requirements. Drops of a variety of liquids slide off at tilt angles below 5°. This non‐stick coating with autophobicity can reduce the waste of water and solvents in cleaning. The strong covalent attachment of the PDMS brush to the substrate makes them mechanically robust and UV‐tolerant. Their resistance to high temperatures and to droplet sliding erosion, combined with the low film thickness (≈8 nm) makes them ideal candidates to solve the long‐term degradation issues of coatings for heat‐transfer surfaces.
Controlling
the droplet evaporation on surfaces is desired to get
uniform depositions of materials in many applications, for example,
in two- and three-dimensional printing and biosensors. To explore
a new route to control droplet evaporation on surfaces and produce
asymmetric particles, sessile droplets of aqueous dispersions were
allowed to evaporate from surfaces coated with oil films. Here, we
applied 1–50 μm thick films of different silicone oils.
Two contact lines were observed during droplet evaporation: an apparent
liquid–liquid–air contact line and liquid–liquid–solid
contact line. Because of the oil meniscus covering part of the rim
of the drop, evaporation at the periphery is suppressed. Consequently,
the droplet evaporates mainly in the central region of the liquid–air
interface rather than at the droplet’s edge. Colloidal particles
migrate with the generated upward flow inside the droplet and are
captured by the receding liquid–air interface. A uniform deposition
ultimately forms on the substrate. With this straightforward approach,
asymmetric supraparticles have been successfully fabricated independent
of particle species.
A versatile, convenient, and cost-effective
method that can be
used for grafting anti-icing materials onto different surfaces is
highly desirable. Based on mussel-inspired chemistry, the anti-icing
coating with extremely low ice adhesion is enabled by constructing
a self-sustainable lubricating layer, achieved via modifying solid
substrates with a highly hydrophilic conjugate of poly(acrylic acid)–dopamine.
Both unfreezable and freezable water remain liquidlike at subzero
conditions and synergistically fulfill the role of lubrication for
reducing the ice adhesion. The anti-icing coatings show excellent
stability in harsh environments and durability after the cross-linking.
More importantly, this coating can be applied to various substrates
and is of great promise for practical applications.
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