Durable Superhydrophobic Wood via One-Step Immersion in Composite Silane Solution

A superhydrophobic coating endows pristine hydrophilic wood with excellent water/moisture repellency and thus prolongs its service life. Generally, the superhydrophobic coating on wood is fabricated by a two-step process in which the nanoparticles are first introduced onto the surface and then modified by low-surface-energy molecules. Herein, for the first time, we have fabricated the superhydrophobic wood via a one-step process free of nanoparticles by immersing the pristine hydrophilic wood, such as pine, balsawood, and basswood, into a composite silane solution of hexadecyltrimethoxysilane and methyltrimethoxysilane. The wood remains superhydrophobic or highly hydrophobic after long-term exposure to mechanical damage (such as abrading, knife-cutting, and tape-peeling), chemical damage (such as immersion in acid, alkali, or ethanol), and environmental impacting (such as UV irradiation and low/high-temperature exposure).