Design and fabrication of vapor-induced superhydrophobic surfaces obtained from polyethylene wax and silica nanoparticles in hierarchical structures

Abstract

nanoparticles and PEW micro-clusters, the composite coating exhibited a remarkable superhydrophobicity with a contact angle of 163° ± 5° with 25 wt% content of PEW, as well as preeminent self-cleaning properties against various food liquids. Moreover, the coating still maintained its surface cleanliness when immersed in the cyclohexane or hexadecane, indicating a superior self-cleaning property against solvent-contamination. The mechanical durability test showed that the coating still kept its excellent water repellency after fairly intensive knife-scratching, tape peeling and 25 cycles of sandpaper abrasion under 100 g of loading, indicating a quite admirable mechanical durability. The facile preparation and high-performance of the coating make it quite suitable for manufacture on a large scale, which is favorable for the development of superhydrophobic coatings.