Superhydrophobicity/Superhydrophilicity Transformation of Transparent PS-PMMA-SiO2 Nanocomposite Films

Abstract

A transparent superhydrophobic nanocoating with high water contact angle (>150∘ ) was successfully prepared by a simple dip coating method. The coating solutions were prepared by the dissolution of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in toluene. Fumed silica (SiO2) was then added to increase the roughness of the coating. The annealing treatment conditions were investigated to optimize the water contact angle. The heat treatment conditions and other factors were studied systematically to optimize the transmission and the contact angle of water on the films. The results have shown that the films increase with the annealing temperature. The superhydrophobicity of films is observed only in PS-consisted films after the annealing at 200 ∘C. The superhydrophobic/superhydrophilic transformation was achieved at the annealing temperature higher than 200 ∘C due to the decay of the polymer into hydrophilic monomers.

Preparation and Characterization of Some Sol-Gel Modified Silica Coatings Deposited on Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Substrates

“…Many techniques have been carried out to prepare hybrid coatings including plasma etching [2], layer-by-layer film formation [3], electrospinning [4], chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [5] and the sol-gel process [6]. Compared with the mentioned methods, the sol-gel process is the most used method to produce the hybrid silica coatings because: (a) it allows the control of the product's chemical composition; (b) it is attractive for coating polymers that have melting points between 150 and 300 • C; (c) uniform coatings can easily be fabricated by dipping or spin coating; (d) is low cost and a cost-effectiveness technique and (e) ceramic, glass, metal and polymer substrates can be easily coated [7]. Sol-gel route is considered an adequate method to produce smart and green coatings that can be suited to applications in optoelectronics, self-cleaning solar cells, photovoltaics and sensors [8,9].…”

A novel optical model of the experimental transmission spectra of nanocomposite PVC-PS hybrid thin films doped with silica nanoparticles

“…Silica-based inorganic-organic hybrids synthesized using sol-gel technique are being eminently employed in several technological applications at moderate temperature and pressure [7,8,9,10]. Transparent hybrid such as tetraethoxysilane or tetramethoxysilane (TEOS or TMOS) that are free of phase segregation are synthesized properly at controlled conditions [11].…”

“…Thus, the films were annealed at a temperature not to exceed 200 C. This observation is in excellent agreement with the finding of A. Sriboonruang et. al study[11].…”