A Bioinspired, Highly Transparent Surface with Dry‐Style Antifogging, Antifrosting, Antifouling, and Moisture Self‐Cleaning Properties

Abstract

Abstract Transparent coatings with antireflection, antifogging, antifrosting, antifouling, and moisture self‐cleaning properties can dramatically improve the efficiency and convenience of optical elements and thus are highly desirable for practical applications. Here, it is demonstrated that a bionic nanocone surface (BNS) fabricated by a facile, low‐cost process consisting of template‐assisted prepolymer curing followed by surface modification can possess the multiple functions listed above. The polymer coating firmly adheres to a glass substrate due to bonding agents. After SiO 2 nanoparticle deposition and low‐surface‐energy fluorosilane modification, the coating shows low microdroplet adhesion. As a result, the as‐prepared BNS exhibits a high transmittance when exposed to fog and good clarity even when the temperature decreases to −20 °C in a humid environment. Dipping the BNS into exemplified graphite powder has almost no influence on the transparency, and the BNS can realize self‐cleaning of moisture when the surface is covered with a thick layer of man‐made contaminants.