Dalian University of Technology graduates invent self-cleaning coatings

China Paint Online News News: Beautiful lotus out of silt without dyeing, water drops from the lotus leaf can remove the dust and bacteria adsorbed on it, is derived from the lotus leaf has a "super-hydrophobic surface." The new coating, developed by a team of Dalian University of Technology graduates Lu Yao, also allows the material to form a self-cleaning "lotus leaf" surface, even after it has been scratched or worn. The study was published recently in the American journal Science.
nearly 20 years, artificial super-hydrophobic surfaces of lotus leaves have emerged. However, due to various limitations, the technology has not been able to be used on a large scale. Lu Said that many of the existing ultra-hydrophobic surfaces are prone to oil pollution and loss of self-cleaning. To solve this problem, scholars have managed to develop an ultra-double dredging surface of hydrophobic dredging. However, the dual dredging surface is slightly better in terms of self-cleaning, but does not apply to bearings, gears and other parts that require lubricants. The coating, invented by Lu's team, is made of fluorinated titanium dioxide nanoparticles and is extremely waterproof, but unlike other waterproof coatings, it can still function after damage or exposure to oily substances. Due to its excellent wear resistance, it can be used in a wide range of materials, from clothing to cars.
During his master's degree in mechanical engineering at Dalian University of Technology, Lu Yao has been interested in bionic ultra-hydrophobic self-cleaning materials, and his master's thesis "Preparation of titanium-based ultra-double dredging surface and its wetting control" is also focused on this, in September 2013, Lu Yao went to University College London Chemistry Department to study for a ph.D., with a chemical perspective to explore the original research. "Titanium dioxide, fluosilane and ethanol required for coatings are the most commonly used substances in normal experiments." LuYao admitted that after several tests, an inadvertently painted homemade hydrophobic paint on the sticky surface of transparent glue, found that no matter with a knife scrape or sandpaper grinding, can not remove the paint from the glue. Based on this revelation, he tried to apply double-sided glue to the glass surface, and then added hydrophobic coatings to form a sandwich-like structure - glass and hydrophobic coatings are glued to both sides of the double-sided glue. As a result, the surface becomes very strong, even with sandpaper cross-rubbing dozens of back and forth, can still maintain the surface super-hydrophobic.
Song Jinlong, another research leader and a doctoral student at Dalian University of Technology's School of Mechanical Engineering, also said that the essence of the study was not how strong and wear-resistant the super-hydrophobic surface was, but rather to provide a unique way of thinking about handing over the "fragile" weaknesses of the super-hydrophobic field to more sophisticated viscose techniques to overcome. In the specific production practice, whether it is large to large machinery and equipment waterproof, or small to their own painted walls, you can choose their own glue as needed to do "intermediary." In other words, the glue has more force, super-hydrophobic surface has more force.