pubs.acs.org/Langmuir © 2010 American Chemical Society
Superhydrophilic Surfaces via Polymer-SiO2 Nanocomposites Hongchen Dong,† Penglin Ye,† Mingjiang Zhong,† Joanna Pietrasik,‡ Ray Drumright,§ and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski*,† †
Center for Macromolecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University, 4400 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, ‡Institute of Polymer and Dye Technology, Technical University of Łod z, ul. Stefanowskiego 12/16, 90-924 Łod z, Poland, and §The Dow Chemical Co., Dow Coating Materials R&D, Midland, Michigan 48664 Received May 26, 2010. Revised Manuscript Received August 25, 2010 A novel procedure for the preparation of superhydrophilic surfaces is described. The method employs fabricating the surface from a mixture of silica nanoparticles (NPs) and polymers containing reactive trimethoxysilyl (TMOS) groups. Suitable polymers include quaternized poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PQDMAEMA) and poly(3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) (PTMOSPMA). Condensation of the TMOS groups in a deposited film occurs under mild conditions and results in formation of a cross-linked polymer-SiO2 nanocomposite coating covalently anchored onto a glass substrate. When silica nanoparticles, containing micrometer-sized agglomerates, are introduced into the film, a hierarchical micro/nanostructure within the coating is built up. Superhydrophilic behavior is achieved with a high weight ratio of fumed silica NPs or polymer/fumed silica NP bilayer coatings. The superhydrophilic surfaces have high stability and antifogging behavior and display easy cleaning characteristics. Furthermore, the superhydrophilic nanocomposite coatings containing PQDMAEMA exhibit antimicrobial properties against E. coli due to the presence of quaternary ammonium groups.
Introduction Surfaces that are completely and instantaneously wet by water (water droplet contact angle
