Highly transparent and robust superhydrophobic coatings fabricated via a facile sol-gel process

Abstract A simple sol-gel method was utilized to fabricate SiO2-based coatings on glass substrates. After decorating the coatings with fluorosilane, the coatings became superhydrophobic, with a maximum water contact angle of 154°. After a systematic investigation of the coating processing parameters, the transparency and hydrophobicity of the coatings were well balanced. A highly transparent superhydrophobic coating was fabricated. The coated sample has an optical transmittance that is only