An Aqueous Process for Durable Superamphiphobic Diblock Copolymer Coatings on Fabrics

Abstract

Many strategies have been developed to prepare superamphiphobic fabrics that strongly repel water‐ and oil‐borne contaminants and etchants. However, the common drawback in these reported strategies is the use of organic solvents, which should be eliminated or reduced for practical applications. In this paper, the diblock copolymer of poly(2‐perfluorooctylethyl acrylate)‐block‐poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐ radom‐methoxy oligoethyleneglycolyl methacrylate) [PFOEA‐b‐P(GMA‐r‐mOEGMA)]is synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization and used to coat cotton and poly(ethylene terphthalate) fabrics from an aqueous process. It is found that fabrics with tunable and robust wettablity can be prepared from copolymer solution at different concentrations. For example, fabrics coated at a copolymer solution concentration of 22.8 mg mL‐1 are superamphiphobic. This process of current stratey is environment‐friendly, simple, and reproducible, and may find commercial applications.

Totally Waterborne, Nonfluorinated, Mechanically Robust, and Self-Healing Superhydrophobic Coatings for Actual Anti-Icing

“…Natural competition and selection have donated many interesting abilities to animals and plants in responding and adapting to the changes of environment around them. , For example, although living in a muddy environment, lotus leaves never get dirty owing to their extraordinary water repellency and unique self-cleaning property. − Inspired by the lotus effect, , superhydrophobic coatings featured by high contact angles (CA > 150°) and low sliding angles (SA) of water have drawn significant attention. − Superhydrophobic coatings are very promising materials in various areas including self-cleaning, , oil/water separation, , anti-icing, − anticorrosion, and anti-biofouling. , Various approaches have been developed to fabricate superhydrophobic coatings, for example, sol–gel, chemical vapor deposition, electrospinning, and chemical etching. − However, their application is restricted by some main bottlenecks, especially the pollutive preparation methods (e.g., organic solvents and fluorinated compounds) and poor mechanical stability.…”

Recent Progress in Durable and Self‐Healing Super‐Nonwettable Fabrics

“…silanol, epoxide, azide block) were used to form a durable SNW coating on fabrics. [20,[87][88][89][90] For example, Xiong et al [87] used a diblock copolymer of poly-(3-(triisopropyloxysilyl)propyl methacrylate)-block-poly-(2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate) (PIPSMA-b-PFOEMA) to render cotton fabrics with superamphiphobic property. PIPSMA block can hydrolyze to yield silanol groups that can condense with the hydroxyl group on cotton surface, thus forming a cross-linked covalently grafted layer on the cotton fibers.…”

“…tetrahydrofuran, trifluorotoluene), strong acid/base aqueous (pH between 1~14), etc. Later, Zou et al [90] synthesized a diblock copolymer of poly(2-perfluorooctylethyl acrylate)-block-poly(glycidyl methacrylate-radom-methoxy oligoethyleneglycolyl methacrylate) (PFOEA-b-P(GMA-r-mOEGMA)) via ATRP and applied the polymer onto cotton and PET fabrics as seen in Figure 8. After the coating treatment, a durable superamphiphobic fabric was obtained, which was mechanically and chemically robust.…”

Superamphiphobic Surfaces with Controllable Adhesion Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Bessel Beam on PTFE

“…[15] A number of methods have been demonstrated to create superamphiphobic surfaces, including spraying, dip coating, layer-bylayer assembly, photolithography and chemical vapor deposition. [16][17][18][19][20] However, the fabrication of superamphiphobic surfaces is still a major challenge, since these methods are complicated and the coatings are prone to degradation. A robust and effective method is required to produce superamphiphobic surfaces.…”