Zinc Oxide Based Particles with Hierarchical Structure for Surface Wetting Modification

The wettability of surfaces with water is crucial for a variety of technical and natural processes, including self-cleaning surfaces, improving the corrosion resistance of materials, ensuring reliable adhesive contact and efficient condensation of water vapor to collect atmospheric water. Research in this area involves the development of new materials and technologies that allow us to control the wetting properties of surfaces, ensuring their optimal functionality in various applications. This study focuses on the possibility of using micro- and nanotextured particles to modify the wetting properties of functional coatings. Superhydrophobic surfaces, characterised by exceptional water repellency, serve as a model system, demonstrating that both the intrinsic hydrophobicity of the surface and the development of the texture are crucial. The synthesis of hierarchically structured particles, in particular ZnO from SiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> and TiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> seed crystals, followed by their combination with polymeric binders to create surfaces with increased roughness is discussed in this paper. The high particle content (90–95 wt%) in binder-deficient systems contributes to superhydrophobicity, which is confirmed by the water contact angle of 153° for ZnO with TiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> seed crystals. This approach not only simplifies the dispersion of particles in the polymer matrix but also offers a practical way to scale up the production of superhydrophobic surfaces.