Superhydrophobic PLA fabrics prepared by UV photo-grafting of hydrophobic silica particles possessing vinyl groups

Abstract

Superhydrophobic poly(lactic acid) (PLA) fabrics are prepared by UV photo-grafting of hydrophobic silica particles possessing vinyl functional groups on the surfaces, which is a novel one-step process to provide surface with roughness as well as hydrophobicity simultaneously. For this purpose, hydrophobic silica particles with vinyl groups and average diameter of 1.51 +/- 0.05 mu m are synthesized via a sol-gel process. The silica particles possessing vinyl groups are found to be effectively immobilized on PLA fabrics via UV photo-grafting reaction. The water contact angle of the treated PLA fabric is measured to be similar to 150 degrees, which is high enough to exhibit the Lotus effect as a result of the superhydrophobicity. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.