Large-scale fabrication of waterborne superamphiphobic coatings for flexible applications

In recent years, there have been great achievements in superhydrophobic coatings. However, there are still some barriers restricting superhydrophobic coatings in practical applications, such as widely used organic solvents and poor oleophobicity. In this study, we proposed a method for fabricating absolutely waterborne superamphiphobic coatings in two steps. Firstly, we synthesized the waterborne SiO₂ sol using methyltriethoxysilane, and then the SiO₂ sol was modified in an aqueous system with a fluorocarbon surfactant. The results showed that the coating had contact angles of 160°, 153° and 150° and sliding angles of 1°, 4.7° and 6.3° with respect to water, soybean oil and hexadecane. Moreover, the coating could withstand 300 °C heating and immersion in various corrosive solutions for several hours. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that the waterborne coating showed excellent performances in antifouling, self-cleaning, and damp-proof fields.