Composite Superhydrophobic\nCoating with Transparency\nand Thermal Insulation for Glass Curtain Walls

In this paper, the preparation of a transparent superhydrophobic\ncomposite coating with a thermal insulation function using antimony-doped\ntin oxide (ATO) nanoparticles is proposed, which has advantages of\nbeing mass-producible and low-cost. In short, nanosilica and ATO are\nused as raw materials for constructing rough structures, and superhydrophobic\ncoatings are obtained by mixing and adding binders after modification\nof each, which are then applied to the surface of various substrates\nby spraying to obtain a transparent superhydrophobic coating with\na heat-insulating function. The specific role of each nanoparticle\nis discussed through comparative experiments that illustrate the mechanism\nby which the two particles construct rough structures. The coating\nachieves unique thermal insulation properties while possessing excellent\nsuperhydrophobicity (WCA of ∼163° and WSA of ∼3°)\nand high light transmission (∼70%). Heat-shielding experiments\nhave demonstrated that the composite coating effectively reduces the\nroom temperature by approximately 19% for the same irradiation time.\nThe coating achieves a balanced improvement in visible transmittance,\nthermal insulation, and superhydrophobicity. In addition, the coating’s\nself-cleaning properties, mechanical properties, chemical weathering\nresistance, high-temperature resistance, and anti-icing properties\nwere verified through various experiments.