Transparent, self-cleaning and waterproof surfaces with tunable micro/nano dual-scale structures

The rational design and facile fabrication of optically transparent, superhydrophobic surfaces can advance their versatile applications, including optoelectronic devices. For the easily accessible and scalable preparation of transparent, superhydrophobic surfaces, various coating methods using a solution-process have been developed. However, obtaining highly transparent, non-wetting surfaces with excellent properties is challenging due to the difficulty in controlling surface roughness. Here, we report on a novel approach to control the surface roughness by fabricating tailorable micro/nano dual-scale surface structures via solution-processed nanoparticle coating. The surface roughness was able to be controlled by micro/nano dual-scale structures that can be manipulated by varying the mixture ratio of two different sizes of Al2O3 nanoparticles. The controllable micro/nano dual-scale structures were optimized to achieve the superior surface properties in both hydrophobicity and transparency, exhibiting a high water contact angle (>160°), low sliding angle (<2°) and high transmittance (>90%). These characteristics allowed an excellent transparency and self-cleaning capability as well as a superior waterproof ability even under applied voltage. Furthermore, we demonstrated the versatile applicability of the developed surface-coating method to a wide range of substrates including glass, paper, fabrics, and even flexible plastics.