Water-repellent coating: formation of polymeric self-assembled monolayers on nanostructured surfaces

In this paper, we suggest a facile and effective method for water-repellent coating of oxide surfaces. As a coating material, we synthesized a new random copolymer, referred to as poly(TMSMA-r-fluoroMA), by the radical polymerization of 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSMA) and a fluoromonomer(®) bearing methacrylate moiety (fluoroMA). The random copolymer was designed to consist of a 'surface-reactive part' (trimethoxysilyl group) for anchoring onto oxide-based surfaces and a 'functional part' (perfluoro group) for water repellency. The polymeric self-assembled monolayers (pSAMs) of poly(TMSMA-r-fluoroMA) were constructed on three different aluminum oxide substrates, such as flat, concave-textured, and nanoporous plates, and the static water contact angle of each surface before and after the formation of pSAMs was measured. The formation of pSAMs resulted in significantly enhanced hydrophobicity compared with the corresponding bare surfaces. In particular, among three poly(TMSMA-r-fluoroMA)-coated surfaces, the nanoporous plate showed the highest water-repellent property, with a static contact angle of ∼163°, which is indicative of superhydrophobic surfaces.