Robust polymer incorporated TiO₂‐ZrO₂ microsphere coatings by electrospraying technique with excellent and durable self cleaning, antibacterial and photocatalytic functionalities

Abstract

The applications of self‐cleaning coatings on large scale are limited due to their poor durability, remnants of hazardous by‐products and lack of biocompatibility. We propose to solve this problem by developing TiO2‐ZrO2 composite‐based self cleaning coatings. In order to achieve this task another important aspect was to select biocompatible polymers poly (methyl methacrylate) and pluronic F‐127 (PF‐127) as they can enhance the self‐cleaning capability of TiO2‐ZrO2 which itself is biocompatible and endowed with anti‐bacterial capability. The selection of a preparation technique that could produce coatings mimicking the nature has also been important and hence Electrospraying technique was selected as the processing method. The samples were then characterized using various techniques like field emission scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, and so forth to fathom the interlink between observed properties and morphology. High quality superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic films have been generated and the surfaces were modulated by the addition of tri‐block co‐polymer which was found to provide swapping of superhydrophobic nature to superhydrophilic nature. The integration of superhydrophobic, superhydrophilic, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties in the prepared microsphere coatings is a unique achievement and may interest those in the quest for self‐cleaning materials for antibacterial coatings in mitigating surgical site infections, medical implants, coronary stent surfaces, and so forth.

Advances in the Fabrication and Characterization of Superhydrophobic Surfaces Inspired by the Lotus Leaf

“…( d ) A schematic of an electrospraying process. (Reproduced from [ 130 ] with permission from John Wiley and Sons).…”

A Comparative Study in the Design of TiO2 Assisted Photocatalytic Coatings Monitored by Controlling Hydrophilic Behavior and Rhodamine B Degradation

“…Spraying permits one to obtain particles of different shapes and sizes, which can be interesting in several applications [ 49 , 50 , 51 ]. The second one is the electrospraying technique which is widely used for the construction of photocatalytic coatings [ 52 , 53 ]. This process is a type of liquid atomization process where a conductive solution flows through an electrically charged nozzle, generating droplets of the solution.…”

Renewable Superhydrophobic Surfaces Prepared by Nanoimprinting Using Anodic Porous Alumina Molds

“…In recent years, superhydrophobic properties based on micro- and nanoscale structures have been the focus of much interest owing to their various applications, such as self-cleaning, anti-icing, and antibacterial applications. − The superhydrophobic properties of substrates are defined by two factors, contact angles of a water droplet over 150° and sliding angles below 5°. They depend strongly on geometrical surface structures and can be controlled by optimizing these surface structures.…”