A durable and sustainable superhydrophobic surface with intertwined cellulose/SiO2 blends for anti-icing and self-cleaning applications
Yu Wang, Qian Zhang, Pingping Li, Jintian Huang
Abstract
Poor wear resistance and the use of toxic chemicals restrict the marketization of most traditional superhydrophobic surfaces. The present work provides a method to prepare a durable and non-toxic superhydrophobic coating on the surface of a cotton fabric. Thermal polymerization of spray drying was used to obtain uniform structure of TEMPO-oxidized cellulose (TOC) with nano silica (SiO2), for achieving well-combined rough sphere-like micron particles with hierarchical dimensions, which were then immersed into isocyanate (IPDI) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) respectively along with cotton fabric to construct a superhydrophobic coating on the fabric surface. The surface morphology, chemical structure, roughness and wettability of TOC-SiO2/PDMS surface were studied by adjusting the mass ratios of SiO2 to TOC. The optimal superhydrophobicity was obtained while the mass ratio of SiO2 to TOC was 1:1, displaying a water contact angle (CA) of 158.6°. The introduction of the intertwined TOC-SiO2 blends can construct a hierarchical micro-nano structure to enhance the hydrophobicity, simultaneously improve the mechanical durability of the superhydrophobic surface to prevent multiple peeling and friction damage, as well as outstanding chemical stability in a variety of harsh conditions.