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Wet‐Style Superhydrophobic Antifogging Coatings for Optical Sensors
Author(s) -
Yoon Jongsun,
Ryu Min,
Kim Hyeongjeong,
Ahn GwangNoh,
Yim SeJun,
Kim DongPyo,
Lee Hyomin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202002710
Subject(s) - materials science , anti reflective coating , nanotechnology , coating , polymer , microstructure , nanoscopic scale , surface energy , optical coating , layer (electronics) , contact angle , nanocomposite , composite material
Transparent substrates are widely used for optical applications from lenses for personal and sports eyewear to transparent displays and sensors. While these substrates require excellent optical properties, they often suffer from a variety of environmental challenges such as excessive fogging and surface contamination. In this work, it is demonstrated that a wet‐style superhydrophobic coating, which simultaneously exhibits antifogging, antireflective, and self‐cleaning properties, can be prepared by pattern transferring low‐surface‐energy microstructures onto a heterostructured nanoscale thin film comprising polymers and silica nanoparticles. The polymer–silica nanocomposite base layer serves as a hydrophilic reservoir, guiding the water molecules to preferentially condense into this underlying region and suppress reflection, while the low‐surface‐energy microstructure enables contaminants adsorbed on the surface to be easily removed by rinsing with water.