title: Durable superhydrophobic and antireflective surfaces by trimethylsilanized silica nanoparticles-based sol-gel processing.
abstract: We present a robust and cost-effective coating method to fabricate long-term durable superhydrophobic andsimultaneouslyantireflective surfaces by a double-layer coating comprising trimethylsiloxane (TMS) surface-functionalized silica nanoparticles partially embedded into an organosilica binder matrix produced through a sol-gel process. A dense and homogeneous organosilica gel layer was first coated onto a glass substrate, and then, a trimethylsilanized nanospheres-based superhydrophobic layer was deposited onto it. After thermal curing, the two layers turned into a monolithic film, and the hydrophobic nanoparticles were permanently fixed to the glass substrate. Such treated surfaces showed a tremendous water repellency (contact angle = 168 degrees ) and stable self-cleaning effect during 2000 h of outdoor exposure. Besides this, nanotextured topology generated by the self-assembled nanoparticles-based top layer produced a fair antireflection effect consisting of more than a 3% increase in optical transmittance.
authors.affiliation: National Nanotechnology Laboratories of CNR-INFM c/o Istituto Superiore Universitario di Formazione Interdisciplinare, sez. Nanoscienze, Distretto Tecnologico, Università del Salento, Via Arnesano, 16, 73100 Lecce, Italy. michele.manca@unile.it
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manca
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cannavale
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Marco
authors.forename: Antonino S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Aricò
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cingolani
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gigli