A Method for Preparing Superhydrophobic Paper with High Stability and Ionic Liquid-Induced Wettability Transition

In this study, the polymer PTSPM-PMETAC with anion adsorption properties was prepared by a one-step method, then the amino-modified nano-SiO₂ was grafted onto the polymer to improve the roughness of the surface and enhance the stability of superhydrophobic properties, and a high-stability superhydrophobic paper with ion-induced wettability transition properties was successfully prepared. The study found that the paper can realize the reversible control of surface wettability through the exchange between the anions PF₆^- and Cl^- adsorbed on the surface of PMETAC, and further investigation of the effect of different solvents on the ion exchange properties found that water was the poor solvent for ion exchange, while the mixtures of methanol, acetone, and methanol & water were the good solvent. On the whole, the preparation of superhydrophobic paper by this method not only simple in preparation process, low in cost and strong in universality, but also the prepared superhydrophobic paper has high transparency and good stability, which has great application potential in industrial production.