Light-induced polymerization is an industrially viable process that offers numerous economic and technical advantages over conventional thermal polymerization, particularly toward the fabrication of crosslinked thermoset thin films. These advantages include rapid through cure, low energy requirements, ambient temperature processing, solvent-free resin compositions, and spatial and temporal control over the polymerization process. Here, we report a simple and versatile method for the fabrication of superhydrophobic inorganic�organic thiol-ene coatings via sequential spray-deposition and photopolymerization under ambient conditions. Figure 1. <img src='https://acs-archive-assets2.s3.amazonaws.com/239nm/uploads/7883_figure1.jpg' alt='' />The coatings are obtained by spray-deposition of UV-curable hybrid inorganic�organic thiol-ene resins consisting of pentaerythritol tetra(3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP), triallyl isocyanurate (TTT), 2,4,6,8-tetramethyl-2,4,6,8-tetravinylcyclotetrasiloxane (TMTVSi), and hydrophobic fumed silica nanoparticles. The spray-deposition process and nanoparticle agglomeration/dispersion provide surfaces with hierarchical morphologies exhibiting both micro- and nanoscale roughness. The wetting behavior, dependent on the concentration of TMTVSi and hydrophobic silica nanoparticles, can be varied over a broad range to ultimately provide coatings with high static water contact angles (>150�), low contact angle hysteresis, and low roll off angles (<5�). The cross-linked thiol-ene coatings are solvent resistant, stable at low and high pH, and maintain superhydrophobic wetting behavior after extended exposure to elevated temperatures. We demonstrate the versatility of the spray-deposition and UV-cure process on a variety of substrate surfaces including glass, paper, stone, and cotton fabric.

Fabricating superhydrophobic/oleophobic coatings via spray-deposition and thiol-ene photopolymerization

246th National Meeting (2013)

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