Enhanced adhesion properties of conductive super-hydrophobic surfaces by using zirco-aluminate coupling agent

Abstract

Various technical approaches and concepts have been proposed to develop conductive super-hydrophobic (SH) surfaces. However, most of these approaches are not usable in practical applications because of insufficient adhesion and cost issues. Additionally, durability and uniformity issues are still in need of improvement. The goal of this research is to produce a large-area conductive SH surface with improved adhesion performance and uniformity. To this end, carbon nanotubes (CNT) with a high aspect ratio and elastomeric polymer were utilized as a conductive filler and matrix, respectively, to form a coating layer. Additionally, nanoscale silica particles were utilized for stable implementation of the conductive SH surface. To improve the adhesion properties between the SH coating layer and substrate, pretreatment of the substrate was conducted by utilizing both wet and dry etching processes to create specific organic functional groups on the substrate. Following pretreatment of the surface, a zirco-aluminate coupling agent was utilized to enhance adhesion properties between the substrate and the SH coating layer. Raman spectroscopy revealed that adhesion was greatly improved by the formation of a chemical bond between the substrate and the SH coating layer at an optimal coupling agent concentration. The developed conductive SH coating attained a high electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness, which is advantageous in self-cleaning EMI shielding applications. ? 2018