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Bio-inspired design of a transparent TiO2/SiO2 composite gel coating with adjustable wettability

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Abstract

Although the superhydrophobicity and transparence are generally two contradictory characters as the roughness factor, it is literature abundant for achieving both of these two purposes. To our knowledge, the integration multipurpose (transparent, superhydrophobic, superhydrophilic, underwater superoleophobicity, anti-fogging, and photo-controllable ability) in one has not been reported so far and these are vital for their promising applications in various aspects which can attract broad attention from scholars to engineers. In this work, we are successful to bio-inspired design of a kind versatile transparent nanocoating with superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic properties. The TiO2/SiO2 nanocoatings can be transformed from superhydrophobicity into superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity after heat treatment (450 °C and 2 h). If it was coated on conductive glass, the electrical conductivity was impervious, while the wettability can be manipulated. Importantly, both these superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic TiO2/SiO2 composite nanocoatings were endowed with photo-induced self-cleaning nature and these antifouling coatings could prolong their service life.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 51522510), the “Top Hundred Talents” Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the National 973 Project (2013CB632300) for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Fuchao Yang & Zhiguang Guo

  2. Hubei Collaborative Innovation Centre for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, People’s Republic of China

    Zhiguang Guo

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Fuchao Yang

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  1. Fuchao Yang
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  2. Zhiguang Guo
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Correspondence to Zhiguang Guo.

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Yang, F., Guo, Z. Bio-inspired design of a transparent TiO2/SiO2 composite gel coating with adjustable wettability. J Mater Sci 51, 7545–7553 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0034-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0034-1

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