Transparent antismudge coatings with thermally assisted healing ability

Abstract

The integration of healing ability with transparent antismudge coatings has attracted increasing attention to enhance their durability and reduce maintenance cost. In this study, transparent antismudge coatings with thermally assisted healing ability are fabricated using 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecanethiol (PFDT) grafted 1,2-polybutadiene (PB). The PFDT endows the resulting coatings with a “liquid-like” surface, and thus various liquids with a wide range of surface tensions can readily slide off the coatings without leaving any residue. Through thermally assisted surface reorientation or migration of the polymer, transparent antismudge coatings can repetitively heal their damaged antismudge ability and transparency caused by oxidation or cutting/scratching, thus greatly extending their life. In addition, the PB-g-PFDT coating can also be used on cotton fabrics apart from flat substrates, resulting in superamphiphobic fabrics that are capable of repetitively healing their oxidation-damaged superamphiphobicity at an elevated temperature.