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Facile Preparation of a Fluorine‐Free, Robust, Superhydrophobic Coating through Dip Coating Combined with Non‐Solvent Induced Phase Separation (Dip‐Coating‐NIPS) Method
Author(s) -
Zhu Yuwei,
Pei Lei,
Ambreen Jaweria,
He Chuanxin,
Ngai To
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.202000023
Subject(s) - contact angle , materials science , coating , dip coating , superhydrophobic coating , surface energy , fabrication , polymer , nanoparticle , chemical engineering , solvent , spin coating , composite material , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chemistry , engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Superhydrophobic surfaces based on non‐fluorinated materials and facile fabrication techniques are of great practical value with respect to environmental friendliness and industrial applications. In this work, a fluorine‐free, superhydrophobic coating with hierarchical surface structure and low surface energy is successfully fabricated on various substrates through a recently developed dip coating combined with non‐solvent induced phase separation (dip‐coating‐NIPS) method. A bio‐based polymer, poly( l ‐lactic acid), and commercially available hydrophobic SiO 2 nanoparticles, are used. The fabricated coating exhibits superhydrophobicity, with a static water contact angle (WCA) of 155.7° ± 1.4° and contact angle hysteresis (θ Hys ) of 5.2° ± 0.4°. The results from stability tests demonstrate excellent mechanical durability and chemical stability of the superhydrophobic coating. Finally, the fabricated coating is successfully applied in water–oil separation with superior efficiency. This simple, cost‐effective, and time‐efficient method may provide an effective way for the design of nonfluorine‐based environmentally friendly membranes for separation applications.