Fabrication and characterization of highly hydrophobic rutile TiO2-based coatings for self-cleaning

Role of Hydrophobic Attraction and Hydrophobic Nanoconfined Channels in the Spray Drying Process for Synthesizing Hollow Microspheres from Silica Sol

“…In order to increase the hydrophobicity of particles in silica sol, a common hydrophobic silane coupling agent γ-MPS was employed. − The silica sol was modified by γ-MPS in an ethanol/water mixed solvent with an ethanol content of 74 wt %, and the modified silica sol is still clear and transparent. TEM images show that the modified silica sol is in a single-particle dispersion, as shown in Figure (a).…”

Bio-Based Dual-Functionalized Phase Change Composite: Ultrafast Solar-to-Thermal Conversion and Reinforced Heat Storage Capacity

“…Figure a presents the full-scan XPS spectra of RHA-H-γMPS, showing the surface main elements of O, C, and Si. The C 1s XPS spectrum (Figure b) is divided into four components: C–C/C–H (284.3 eV), C–Si (284.9 eV), C–CO (285.8 eV), and O–CO (288.5 eV) representing the different carbon states of γMPS . For silicon (Figure c), Si 2p curve is deconvoluted into two peaks.…”

“…However, the melting and crystallization enthalpies of PA/rRHA-γMPS are increased to 80.4 and 81.5 J/g, contributing 14.4 and 14.5% to the enthalpies’ increase, respectively, compared with that of PA/rRHA. This could be attributed to the fact that grafting γMPS onto amorphous silica within rRHA can greatly reduce the surface energy of rRHA, while the substrate with lower surface energy produces better compatibility with the nonpolar molecules of PA, , and thus rRHA-γMPS can hold more PA than rRHA. Similarly, the amorphous silica stacked pores of RHA-H are fully exposed by using ultrasonic acid treatment, enlarging the pore structure.…”

Polymer Thin-Film Dewetting-Mediated Growth of Wettability-Controlled Titania Nanorod Arrays for Highly Responsive, Water-Stable Self-powered UV Photodetectors

“…26 Zhang et al and Bhandaru et al could utilize the dewetting of a polymer blend thin film for fabricating SERS substrates and antireflection coatings, respectively. 27,28 In this paper, we show yet another novel application of thin polystyrene (PS) film dewetting by using it as a sacrificial mask layer during the well-known hydrothermal growth of titania nanorods, which have been widely utilized in photocatalysis, 29 photoelectrochemical devices, 30 antireflective (AR) coatings, 31 self-cleaning, 32 microfluidic devices, 33 sensors, 34 and solid-state optoelectronic devices, 35 due to the oxidation efficiency, 36 biocompatibility, 37 and resistance to photocorrosion. 38 Interestingly, though hydrothermal growth of TiO 2 nanorod (NR) on a seeded FTO substrate is widely reported, barring very few papers, 39−42 almost every paper on the topic reports that the TiO 2 NR array is hydrophilic.…”

“…In this paper, we show yet another novel application of thin polystyrene (PS) film dewetting by using it as a sacrificial mask layer during the well-known hydrothermal growth of titania nanorods, which have been widely utilized in photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical devices, antireflective (AR) coatings, self-cleaning, microfluidic devices, sensors, and solid-state optoelectronic devices, due to the oxidation efficiency, biocompatibility, and resistance to photocorrosion . Interestingly, though hydrothermal growth of TiO 2 nanorod (NR) on a seeded FTO substrate is widely reported, barring very few papers, − almost every paper on the topic reports that the TiO 2 NR array is hydrophilic. ,− Some researchers have achieved superhydrophobicity of TiO 2 NR array by subsequent chemical processing like silanization. ,,− In contrast, in this article based on the concept of thin polymer film dewetting, we show that by simply varying the thickness of the PS film, which dewets on the FTO substrate during hydrothermal growth and prevents the formation of NRs over the areas covered under the dewetted PS droplets, it becomes possible to obtain a holey layer of TiO 2 NR-covered surface.…”