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Superhydrophobic and Omnidirectional Antireflective Surfaces from Nanostructured Ormosil Colloids
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posted on 2013-02-13, 00:00 authored by Adem Yildirim, Tural Khudiyev, Bihter Daglar, Hulya Budunoglu, Ali K. Okyay, Mehmet BayindirA large-area superhydrophobic and omnidirectional antireflective
nanostructured organically modified silica coating has been designed
and prepared. The coating mimics the self-cleaning property of superhydrophobic
lotus leaves and omnidirectional broad band antireflectivity of moth
compound eyes, simultaneously. Water contact and sliding angles of
the coating are around 160° and 10°, respectively. Coating
improves the transmittance of the glass substrate around 4%, when
coated on a single side of a glass, in visible and near-infrared region
at normal incidence angles. At oblique incidence angles (up to 60°)
improvement in transmission reaches to around 8%. In addition, coatings
are mechanically stable against impact of water droplets from considerable
heights. We believe that our inexpensive and durable multifunctional
coatings are suitable for stepping out of the laboratory to practical
outdoor applications.