Synthesis of superhydrophobic nanocomposite coating films for self‐cleaning glass using nanoemulsion technique

Abstract This work aims to fabricate new potent superhydrophobic‐hybrid coated nanocomposites used as a self‐cleaning coating on the glass surface. Three (styrene/vinyl acetate) copolymers with monomer molar ratios of 0.06:0.17, 0.12:0.11, and 0.17:0.06 denoted as Z1‐, Z2‐, and Z3‐copolymers were synthesized using the emulsion phase inversion concentration (EPIC) method. Two functionalized SiO 2 ‐NPs using dodecyl triethoxysilane and hexadecyl trimethoxysilane as coupling agents denoted as E‐NPs and F‐NPs, respectively were fabricated by a sol–gel process to promote the hydrophobicity properties of the synthesized SiO 2 ‐NPs. New hybrid composites denoted as P y and T y ( y = 1, 2, and 3) were fabricated by incorporating 1, 3, and 5 wt% of the functionalized SiO 2 ‐NPs (E‐NPs or F‐NPs) into the Z3‐copolymers matrix, respectively. The chemical structures of the synthesized copolymers, unfunctionalized SiO 2 ‐NPs, and the hybrid composites were elucidated by FTIR and 1 HNMR spectroscopes. The surface wettability and topography of the glass‐surface coated by synthesized (styrene/vinyl acetate) copolymers and the silica hybrid composites were analyzed using water contact angle, scanning electron, and atomic force microscopes. The results showed that a highly superhydrophobic coated hybrid composite with a contact angle of 161.48° was achieved by Z3‐copolymer/F5‐NPs denoted as T3‐composite at F5‐NPs concentration of 5 wt%.