GO@CuSilicate nano-needle arrays hierarchical structure: a new route to prepare high optical transparent, excellent self-cleaning and anticorrosion superhydrophobic surface

Transparent superhydrophobic coatings, which are highly desired for the protection of material surfaces, have been limited to particular kinds of materials, e.g. silicon dioxide. In this work, a hybrid compound of graphene oxide and copper silicate with hierarchical structure was developed and was used to fabricate coatings. Due to the high transparency of graphene oxide and the nanoscopic roughness created by nanoneedles of CuSilicate, with very low compound loading (0.052 mg/cm2), the as-prepared coating was found not only showing superhydrophobic properties with a water contact angle (CA) of ∼152° and a near zero sliding angle (SA) of 0.5 but also showing high optical transparent (light transmittance is as high as 94.5 % at 500 nm). Furthermore, this surface also showed efficient anticorrosion properties and excellent self-cleaning ability. This study not only fabricated a new surface with transparency and surperhydrophobicity based on graphene materials, but also hopefully offers a method for the fabrication of multifunctional coatings.