Photostabilisation of an omniphobic, drop-castable surface coating by transformation of a self-assembled supramolecular xerogel into a covalent polymer xerogel

Simple drop-casting of a new gelator, incorporating a diacetylene core and fluorous ponytails, yields porous xerogels as surface coatings. The mechanical stability of such coatings is quantified with a self-devised scratch balance, introducing a simple and universal quantification method to compare the stability of & mu;m-scale coatings. The diameters of the pores in the coatings can be controlled by the breath figure effect. The coatings display omniphobicity with static contact angles of up to 139 & DEG; (water) and 96 & DEG; (n-decane). The coatings are topochemically polymerised by UV irradiation, enhancing the mechanical stability by up to four times. Simultaneously, the water and n-decane contact angles are increased by about 9 & DEG; and 4 & DEG; respectively due to a slight increase in surface roughness.

Automated summary

A new gelator with a diacetylene core and fluorous ponytails was drop-casted to produce porous xerogels as surface coatings. The mechanical stability of these coatings was quantified using a scratch balance, providing a simple and universal method to compare the stability of & mu;m-scale coatings. The pore size in the coatings could be controlled through the breath figure effect. The coatings exhibited omniphobicity with static contact angles of up to 139 & DEG; (water) and 96 & DEG; (n-decane). Polymerization of the coatings through UV irradiation increased their mechanical stability by up to four times. At the same time, the water and n-decane contact angles increased by about 9 & DEG; and 4 & DEG; respectively due to a slight increase in surface roughness.