Mechanically stable superhydrophilic antifog surface by microwave assisted sol-gel method

In this study, optically transparent and mechanically stable of superhydrophilic composite thin films were fabricated via a low-cost one-step microwave-assisted sol-gel technique. The produced superhydrophilic non-fogging surface is produced with lower energy consumption and higher efficiency compared to other traditional methods. Furthermore to these advantages, it has provided comfort in daily life and industry as well as safety benefits. The study is novel in terms of synthesizing and coating siloxane and polymer-containing composite materials in microwave environment. The microwave reaction time was optimized according to surface characterization of homo TMOS surfaces. The reaction time was arranged as 17.5 minutes having low cost compared to the conventional sol-gel technic. The wettability performance and antifogging behavior of PVA-TMOS composite films were investigated according to variation ofthe PVA content. The static contact angle values of the composite surfaces were found to vary between 30 o and 5 o . Superhydrophilic surface having tilt angle is 9 o showed a good antifogging performance. Mechanical durability of the composite surface was also characterized by scratching and adhesive tape test. In addition, the time depending water contact angle was also measured for 100 days. It is found that TMPV 96 composite film having 0.096 (wt, %) content of PVA showed higher mechanical performance with transparent superhydrophilic surface.