Facile fabrication of superhydrophobic raspberry-like SIO2/polystyrene composite particles

A facile and novel strategy was reported on the fabrication of raspberry-like SiO2/polystyrene (SiO2/PS) composite particles by emulsion polymerization in the presence of vinyl-functionalized silica (vinyl-SiO2) particles, which were prepared via a one-step solgel process using vinyltriethoxysilane as the precursor. The submicron vinyl-SiO2 particles were used as the core, and nanosized PS particles were then adsorbed onto the vinyl-SiO2 particles to form raspberry-like composite particles during the polymerization process. The composition, morphology, and structure of the vinyl-SiO2 particles and the SiO2/PS hybrid particles were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Superhydrophobic surface can be constructed by directly depositing the raspberry-like SiO2/PS composite particles on glass substrate, and the water contact angle can be adjusted by the styrene/SiO2 weight ratio. In addition, the superhydrophobic film possessed a strong adhesive force to pin water droplet on the surface even when the film was turned upside down. POLYM. COMPOS., 2013. (c) 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers