Integrated CNTs/SiO₂ nano-additives on SBS polymeric superhydrophobic coatings for self-cleaning

ABSTRACT

Styrene–butadiene-styrene triblock copolymers were blended with carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/SiO₂ nano-additives to fabricate superhydrophobic coatings for self-cleaning. When the loading of nano-additives is 20 wt-% and the mass ratio of CNTs to SiO₂ is 4:1, the nanocomposite coatings show the best self-cleaning property with water contact angle of 152.5° and contact angle hysteresis of 3.2°. In addition, the superhydrophobic coatings exhibited good thermal stability and high mechanical stability. The superhydrophobic coatings might be extended to the design of novel superfloating and drag-reducing aquatic devices. Owing to its flexibility and simplicity, the method is not only a facile and inexpensive way to achieve the lotus effect but could also create coatings with high values in practical application.

KEYWORDS:

• Superhydrophobic
• coating
• self-cleaning
• high mechanical stability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Yanfen Huang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4835-8314

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Research Project of Hubei Provincial Department of Education under grant number Q20171108; Youth Science and Technology Backbone Training Program of the Wuhan University of Science and Technology under grant number 2017xz010; and Key Laboratory of Hubei Province for Coal Conversion and New Carbon Materials (Wuhan University of Science and Technology) under grant number WKDM201711.