Investigation of self-cleaning and bouncing properties of superhydrophobic aluminum nitride/silicone rubber

In order to investigate the effect of aluminum nitride (AlN) on the self-cleaning and bouncing properties of room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber, a superhydrophobic AlN/RTV composite with micro-nano structure was prepared by powder scattering technology. The method combines the characteristics of RTV curing at room temperature, and has the advantages of simple operation, low cost and easy realization. Bouncing experiments, with different droplet sizes, different tilting angles and different temperatures, and self-cleaning experiments were designed. The micro-morphology of superhydrophobic surface was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer, and interferometric 3D profilometer. The results show that the static contact angle and the rolling angle of AlN/RTV are 157.7 +/- 0. 9 degrees and 4.2 +/- 0.7 degrees, respectively. Many micro-roughness structures were formed on the RTV surface by AlN, which reduced the contact area between droplets and the sample surface, so the samples had outstanding self-cleaning and bouncing properties.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effect of aluminum nitride (AlN) on the self-cleaning and bouncing properties of room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber by preparing a superhydrophobic AlN/RTV composite with micro-nano structure. The results showed that the micro-roughness structures formed on the RTV surface by AlN contributed to the outstanding self-cleaning and bouncing properties of the samples. The static contact angle and rolling angle of AlN/RTV were found to be 157.7 +/- 0.9 degrees and 4.2 +/- 0.7 degrees, respectively.