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Robust superhydrophilic antifogging coatings by a facile sol–gel method

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Abstract

In this study, a simple one-step sol–gel process was applied to synthesize SiO2-based superhydrophilic antifogging coatings on glass substrates. In this process, Si(OH)4 sol was first prepared and then SiO2 nanoparticles were added to the sol to form coating solutions. The influence of both the Si(OH)4 sol and SiO2 nanoparticle contents on the coating properties was investigated. Their contents have significant effects on the coatings’ properties, including hydrophilicity and surface morphology. The water contact angle of the optimum coating is about 3.4°. Besides, as revealed by the steam test and freeze test, the optimum superhydrophilic coating demonstrates good antifogging properties and an adequate level of mechanical strength as well. Compared to other techniques used to fabricate antifogging coating on glass substrate, the sol–gel-based process developed in this study requires no expensive equipment, and the processing time is largely shortened. Thus, such technique has great potential applications in the field of coating industry.

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Availability of data and material

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Dongguan Introduction Program of Leading Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talents (2017-16), Dongguan, Guangdong Province, P. R. China; Youth Fund Project (Regional Collaboration Program) of Guangdong Provincial Foundation for Basic and Applied Basic Research (2019A1515110537) and Dongguan Social Development Science Project (Key Project 20211800905472).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tsinghua Innovation Center in Dongguan, Dongguan, 523808, People’s Republic of China

    Chong Ke, Chenhua Zhang, Huijun Chen & Yongdong Jiang

  2. School of Material Science and Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, People’s Republic of China

    Huijun Chen

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  1. Chong Ke
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Contributions

CK contributes in data curation, investigation, formal analysis, and the writing and editing of the manuscript. CZ contributes in data curation, formal analysis, and investigation for this study. YJ contributes in conceptualization, funding acquisition, project administration, resources, supervision, review, and editing in this study.

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Correspondence to Yongdong Jiang.

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Ke, C., Zhang, C., Chen, H. et al. Robust superhydrophilic antifogging coatings by a facile sol–gel method. J Coat Technol Res 20, 1343–1352 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-022-00748-1

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