Conductive and transparent superhydrophobic films on various substrates by in situ deposition

Conductive and transparent superhydrophobic coatings on poly (ethylene terephthalate), polystyrene (PS), glass slides were fabricated by a facile and low-cost in situ deposition method, forming a binary structure by nanocomposites. The results showed that the maximum transmittance of the coated PS substrates reached to as high as 62.6%, with the contact angle as high as 167 degrees and the sliding angle as low as 4 degrees. Importantly, the transparent superhydrophobic films are conductive, which is very vital for their promising applications in industry, such as auto-windshield glass, anti-corrosion materials, and microfluidic devices. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.