Long-Lasting Antifog Plasma Modification of Transparent Plastics

Antifog surfaces are necessary for any application requiring optical efficiency of transparent materials. Surface modification methods aimed toward increasing solid surface energy, even when supposed to be permanent, in fact result in a nondurable effect due to the instability in air of highly hydrophilic surfaces. We propose the strategy of combining a hydrophilic chemistry with a nanotextured topography, to tailor a long-lasting antifog modification on commercial transparent plastics. In particular, we investigated a two-step process consisting of self-masked plasma etching followed by plasma deposition of a silicon-based film. We show that the deposition of the silicon-based coatings on the flat (pristine) substrates allows a continuous variation of wettability from hydrophobic to superhydrophilic, due to a continuous reduction of carbon-containing groups, as assessed by Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. By depositing these different coatings on previously nanotextured substrates, the surface wettability behavior is changed consistently, as well as the condensation phenomenon in terms of microdroplets/liquid film appearance. This variation is correlated with advancing and receding water contact angle features of the surfaces. More importantly, in the case of the superhydrophilic coating, though its surface energy decreases with time, when a nanotextured surface underlies it, the wetting behavior is maintained durably superhydrophilic, thus durably antifog

Two-Dimensional Plasmonic Superlattice Based on Au Nanoparticles Self-Assembling onto a Functionalized Substrate

Au nanoparticles (NPs) self-assembled by means of a simple solvent evaporation strategy in a two-dimensional (2D) superlattice with a highly controlled geometry and extending over micrometers squared when drop cast onto a suitably functionalized silicon substrate. The assembly procedure was defined by carefully monitoring experimental parameters, namely, dispersing solvent, deposition temperature, Au NP concentration, and chemistry of supporting substrate. The investigated parameters were demonstrated to play a significant role on the delicate energetic balance of the mutual NPs as well as NP–substrate interactions, ultimately directing the NP assembly. Remarkably, substrate surface chemistry revealed to be decisive to control the extent of the organization. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the 2D superlattice extends uniformly over hundreds of square micrometers. Grazing-incidence small-angle X-ray scattering investigation validated the Au NP organization in crystalline domains and confirmed the role played by the surface chemistry of the substrate onto the 2D lattice assembly. Finally, preliminary spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation allowed extraction of optical constants of NP assemblies. The localized surface plasmon resonance modes of the NP assemblies were studied through a combined analysis of reflection, transmission, and ellipsometric data that demonstrated that the plasmonic properties of the Au NP assemblies strongly depend on the substrate, which was found to influence NP ordering and near-field interactions between NPs