title: Candle soot as a template for a transparent robust superamphiphobic coating.
abstract: Coating is an essential step in adjusting the surface properties of materials. Superhydrophobic coatings with contact angles greater than 150° and roll-off angles below 10° for water have been developed, based on low-energy surfaces and roughness on the nano- and micrometer scales. However, these surfaces are still wetted by organic liquids such as surfactant-based solutions, alcohols, or alkanes. Coatings that are simultaneously superhydrophobic and superoleophobic are rare. We designed an easily fabricated, transparent, and oil-rebounding superamphiphobic coating. A porous deposit of candle soot was coated with a 25-nanometer-thick silica shell. The black coating became transparent after calcination at 600°C. After silanization, the coating was superamphiphobic and remained so even after its top layer was damaged by sand impingement.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mammen
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Butt
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vollmer