Fabrication of mechanically durable superhydrophobic wood surfaces using polydimethylsiloxane and silica nanoparticles

Abstract

The excellent properties of wood utilized as an engineering material are detracted by the complex wood-water interactions and the resulting dimensional instability and low durability against biological degradation. Inspired by the lotus effect, mechanically durable superhydrophobic coatings were successfully fabricated on intrinsically heterogeneous wood substrates by simply dip-coating in suspensions of hydrophobic silica (SiO 2 ) nanoparticles dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) solution. Subsequent low-surface-energy treatment with some expensive reagents is not necessary owing to the hydrophobic nature of PDMS and the modified silica particles. The surface microstructure, roughness and wetting behavior of the PDMS-silica hybrid coatings on wood surfaces were investigated in relation to the loadings of the silica particles in the PDMS matrix. When the silica particle loading reached a critical level, desirable hierarchical micro/nanostructures were formed on the wood substrate, allowing for the generation of superhydrophobicity with a contact angle of 152 and a sliding angle of less than 10 . The fabricated PDMS-silica hybrid coating exhibited desirable durability against mechanical abrasion and high-frequency ultrasonic washing in water whilst basically retaining its microstructure and superhydrophobicity. Such mechanically durable superhydrophobic wood surfaces with self-cleaning properties offer an interesting alternative for wood modification, and could improve the performance of wood as an engineering material.

Abrasion Resistance of Superhydrophobic Coatings on Aluminum Using PDMS/SiO2

“…In the first approach, the coating was dragged against a 240-grit sandpaper with 7.75 kPa normal pressure. The sandpaper, which acts as the abrading surface used in this work, is considerably rougher than the sandpapers used in similar tests that are listed in Table 3 [24, [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]; hence, it provides a more severe abrading action. The specimen, under exerted pressure, was moved in 20 cm cycles, rotating the specimen by 90 • at the halfway point of each cycle to introduce even abrasions on the coating's surface.…”

Durable Self‐Cleaning Superhydrophobic Coating of SiO2–Cyanoacrylate Adhesive via Facile Dip Coat Technique

“…prepared a self‐cleaning superhydrophobic silica coating using fluoroalkoxysilane (17FTMS). Chang et al . applied the superhydrophobic coating on a wood substrate by dipping it in silica nanoparticles loaded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).…”

“…Liu et al [13] prepared a self-cleaning superhydrophobic silica coating using fluoroalkoxysilane (17FTMS). Chang et al [21] applied the superhydrophobic coating on a wood substrate by dipping it in silica nanoparticles loaded polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Wang et al [22] prepared self-cleaning superhydrophobic coating by spraying paint-like suspension of biopolymer castor oilbased polyurethane and fused SiO 2 nanoparticles.…”

A Simple and Efficient Method to Fabricate Superhydrophobic Wood with Enhanced Mechanical Durability

“…By converting the hydrophilic hydroxyl groups into hydrophobic groups via chemical modification, the water resistance and dimensional stability of wood can be significantly improved. This will be beneficial to increase their durability and extend their service life [2][3][4].…”