As a hydrophilic material, wood is difficult to utilize for external applications due to the variable weather conditions. In this study, an efficient, facile, and low-cost method was developed to enhance the hydrophobicity of wood. By applying the low-temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology, the polydimethylsiloxane-coated wood (PDMS@wood) with hydrophobic surface was fabricated employing dichlorodimethylsilane as the CVD chemical resource. The result of water contact angle (i.e., 157.3°) revealed the hydrophobic behavior of the PDMS@wood. The microstructures of the wood samples were observed by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis verified PDMS successfully coated on wood surfaces. The chemical functional groups of the PDMS@wood were investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectra. The thermogravimetric results indicated the enhanced thermal stability of the wood after PDMS coating. In addition, the stability test of PDMS@wood indicated that the hydrophobicity properties of the PDMS@wood samples were preserved after long-time storage (e.g., 30 days). The scratch test was carried out to examine the abrasion resistance of the hydrophobic coatings on PDMS@wood surface. It was suggested that low-temperature CVD process could be a successful approach for fabricating hydrophobic wood.

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Super-hydrophobic phenomena generally exist in nature, and wood can also obtain hydrophobicity by specific processing on the surface, being like the construction of microscale rough surface or decoration with low surface energy materials. In this research, the formation of hydrophobic layers on wood surface was investigated without breaking the wood’s original structure. The core-shell structure particles were prepared by penetrating orthosilicate and polystyrene into the hollow mesoporous microsphere structure with tetrahydrofuran. A wood sample was coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) resin layer to enhance the adhesion of nano and micron hollow mesoporous microsphere on its surface. According to the surface structure of super-hydrophobic subjects in nature, the nano and micron hollow mesoporous microsphere were sprayed with different ratios several times to form a hydrophobic surface. The water contact angle could reach 150°, revealing that the hydrophobic behavior of the nano and micron hollow mesoporous microsphere coating was achieved. The microstructures of wood samples were examined by the scanning electron microscopy, and the chemical functional groups were investigated by the Fourier transform infrared; both verified that the hydrophobic surface was successfully coated. The thermogravimetric examination revealed the improved thermal stability of the hydrophobic wood. The scratch test was used to measure the abrasion resistance of the nano and micron hollow mesoporous microsphere coatings on wood surface. It was suggested that the nano and micron hollow mesoporous microsphere coating was an effective method to fabricate extremely hydrophobic wood products.

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