Self-Healing Surface Hydrophobicity by Consecutive Release of Hydrophobic Molecules from Mesoporous Silica

Abstract

The paper reports a novel approach to achieve self-healing surface hydrophobicity. Mesoporous silica is used as the reservoir for hydrophobic molecules, i.e., octadecylamine (ODA), that can release and refresh the surface hydrophobicity consecutively. A polymdopamine layer is used to further encapsulate silica–ODA, providing a reactive layer, governing release of the underlying ODA, and improving the dispersivity of silica nanoparticles in bulk resin. The approach arrives at self-healing (super)­hydrophobicity without using any fluoro-containing compounds