Transparent, Adherent, and Photocatalytic SiO2-TiO2 Coatings on Polycarbonate for Self-Cleaning Applications

Coatings

Sanjay S. Latthe¹  Shanhu Liu¹  Chiaki Terashima¹  Kazuya Nakata¹ 

[1] Photocatalysis International Research Center, Research Institute for Science & Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan;

关键词: photocatalytic;    wettable;    transparent;    SiO₂-TiO₂ coatings;    self-cleaning;   

DOI  :  10.3390/coatings4030497

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Photocatalytic TiO₂ coatings are famously known for their excellent self-cleaning behavior, where very thin water layer formed on the superhydrophilic surface can easily wash-off the dirt particles while flowing. Here we report the preparation of the optically transparent, adherent, highly wettable towards water and photocatalytic SiO₂-TiO₂ coatings on polycarbonate (PC) substrate for self-cleaning applications. The silica barrier layer was applied on UV-treated PC substrate before spin coating the SiO₂-TiO₂ coatings. The effect of different vol% of SiO₂ in TiO₂ and its influence on the surface morphology, mechanical stability, wettability, and photocatalytic properties of the coatings were studied in detail. The coatings prepared from 7 vol% of SiO₂ in TiO₂ showed smooth, crack-free surface morphology and low surface roughness compared to the coatings prepared from the higher vol% of SiO₂ in TiO₂. The water drops on this coating acquires a contact angle less than 10° after UV irradiation for 30 min. All the coatings prepared from different vol% (7 to 20) of SiO₂ in TiO₂ showed high transparency in the visible range.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.