ABSTRACT

There is significant work put into the development of superhydrophobic

surface as it encloses wider applications of materials from the self-cleaning,
chemical and corrosion resistance, and low friction in fluid drag. The current
issues with developing a superhydrophobic coating is that it requires
complicated set-up and lacks scalability. Therefore, the motivation of this
research was to fabricate a simple and scalable method of producing
superhydrophobic coating. A superhydrophobic coating was fabricated with
octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) and ethanol at room conditions. The coating
was fabricated onto a glass substrate using a spraying bottle. Critical
parameters, which were analysed include concentration of OTS, number of
sprays and aging of solution. Aging of solution was found to have a negative
impact on water contact angle. The number of sprays required is dependant
on the concentration of OTS. The coatings were characterized using a
goniometer, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and a Scanning
Electron Microscope (SEM). Characterization with FTIR showed presence of
methyl, silanol and siloxane groups. A rough mesh-like structure was
observed on coated substrate using SEM. Application to other materials such
as cotton, paper, and plastic were tested. A superhydrophobic coating was
successfully fabricated on the other materials except cotton. Cotton displayed
non- absorbent properties towards water after coating.
.