Superhydrophobic and transparent surfaces on cotton fabrics coated with silica nanoparticles for hierarchical roughness

Superhydrophobic and transparent surfaces on cotton fabrics have been developed using silica nanomaterials. Initially, trichlorododecylsilane was treated on the silica nanoparticles to lower the surface energy of the fabric. By simply spraying alcohol suspensions containing hydrophobized silica nanoparticles, extremely water repellent coatings were formed on the textile fabrics. The effect of three types of alcohol solvent on the hydrophobicity of the coated cotton fabrics was examined by measuring the surface wettability. The treated cotton textiles in methanol exhibited contact angles higher than 160°, contact angle hysteresis lower than 10°, and good water repellency. It proved to be essential to form hierarchical morphology in achieving superhydrophobicity.