Superhydrophobic coatings and self-cleaning through the use of geothermal scaling silica in improvement of material resistance

Abstract

Materials damage both physically and chemically on bamboo, iron or glass material can cause increased maintenance costs. Current methods are ineffective both in terms of cost and the manufacturing process. A simple and time-saving approach for preparing self-cleaning superhydrophobic silica coatings using a spray-coating technique is reported in this study. Silica as a precursor utilizes geothermal scaling silica waste with abundant availability. The purpose of this research is to produce superhydrophobic solution from geothermal scaling silica for enhancing the durability of the material and to investigate the influence of silica and TMCS concentration also type of material and solvent used on wettability properties of material coated. This research consisted of scaling silica preparation, making superhydrophobic material, characterization and durability test. Superhydrophobic coating with highest contact angle was obtained with 5.5% w/v silica, 13% v/v TMCS using isooctane solvent. Superhydrophobic solution can be used effectively and efficiently for bamboo, zinc iron or glass with 180° contact angle and 0-2° sliding angle. No significant effect of transparency on superhydrophobic coatings is beneficial for certain use of glass. Durability test results on bamboo produce superhydrophobic coating 6 times more durable than without coating due to water does not seep into bamboo. This method can be effective for fabricating self-cleaning superhydrophobic surfaces for promising industrial applications.