Superhydrophobic fabrics prepared from a polydopamine coating show high water repellency, good durability and self-healing property.

A novel method to prepare durable superhydrophobic fabrics through pre‐applying an alkyl silane (alkyl chain longer than C15) onto fabric substrate and by subsequent vacuum plasma treatment in argon is reported. The treated fabrics show a contact angle of 154.2° with low contact angle hysteresis (sliding angle 4.5°). The coatings are durable and can withstand 150 cycles of standard laundries. The argon plasma treatment is found to significantly enhance SiOSi bonding among the silane molecules, leading to a highly crosslinked silica network. The silane coating also shows high optical transparency. Apart from fabrics, other substrates such as filter paper, plastic film, glass slide, silicon wafer, and metal are treated in a similar way, and all the treated surface show durable hydrophobicity, though the contact angle is lower than that of the coated fabrics. Post‐crosslinking of silane through argon plasma treatment may offer a facile but environment‐friendly way to prepare durable superhydrophobic fabrics.

A novel method for preparing durable superamphiphobic fabrics is reported, which involves preapplying a solution consisting of perfluoroalkyl acrylate, epoxide-containing silane, and silica nanoparticles onto fabric and subsequent argon-plasma treatment. The coated fabrics show superphobic to both water and oil fluids (surface tension >21.5 mN m ). The coating is durable to withstand repeated laundries and multicycles of abrasion without apparently altering the superamphiphobicity. The coating is also very stable in boiling water, strong acid, and base, but has little effect on the fabric handle and air permeability. The argon-plasma-enhanced coating may offer a facile way to prepare durable superamphiphobic fabrics.

No abstract

No abstract