A general formulation approach for the fabrication of water repellent materials: how composition can impact resilience and functionality

Abstract

A universal approach for fabricating superhydrophobic materials, through a three-component formulation (nanomaterial, polymer, and solvent) that can be readily interchanged.

The challenges, achievements and applications of submersible superhydrophobic materials

“…molecular precursors/nanomaterials), including; chemical vapour deposition, electrospinning and more facile techniques (spray coating, dip coating, spin coating, etc.). [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Both classes of techniques have found equal success in fabricating synthetic superhydrophobic surfaces. However, limiting factors relating to complexity, equipment costs and compatible precursor materials can determine the suitability of each technique, specific to the coating/surface requirements.…”

Pigmented self-cleaning coatings with enhanced UV resilience via the limitation of photocatalytic activity and its effects

“…9,10 However, the components used when designing superhydrophobic coating formulations and the chemical composition that these are applied in has be shown to be critical for the durability and visual properties of the resultant coatings. 11 Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is a wide bandgap semiconductor oxide (band gap: 3.2 eV) that is essential for pigmented coatings due to its high refractive index and known optical properties; a combination of which enables the maximum scattering of visible light in TiO 2 -based nanomaterials. 12,13 These factors make titania the brightest white pigment in common use and is thereby crucial to the paint and coatings industries.…”

“…Previously, we reported a three-phase interchangeable formulation system (nanoparticles, polymer and solvent), where we investigated how the polymer : nanoparticle ratio could impact the resultant materials properties. 11 As a further development, we have shown how this can be applied to two pigmented metal oxide systems (individually and blended) to provide long-term UV stability to otherwise rapidly degrading materials. Furthermore, by blending TiO 2 and cerium oxide (CeO 2 ) particles together, we demonstrate that it's possible to manipulate the resultant pigmentation of these superhydrophobic coatings while retaining UV stability, which to our knowledge has not been reported in the literature.…”

Heat-Treated Micronized Polyethylene Powder for Efficient Oil/Water Separating Filters

“…This has been achieved via numerous methods reported in the literature, but generally involve either the roughening of an already hydrophobic material [ 27 , 28 , 29 ], or the hydrophobic treatment of a roughened material [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. The use of nanoparticles as a scaffold for hydrophobic polymers has been widely reported [ 33 , 34 ]. Conversely, the controlled growth/deposition of a hydrophobic material to induce surface roughness has also been used [ 35 , 36 ].…”

“…As an example, polyethylene (PE) is a hydrophobic polymer, with a WCA of ~100° for a flat polymer layer deposited on a flat surface [ 40 ]. Owing to its compatibility with many systems, it has been reported numerously for the fabrication of superhydrophobic coatings [ 33 , 41 , 42 ]. The heat-treatment of PE powder to produce a hydrophobic film has been reported previously [ 25 ].…”