Fabrication of superhydrophobic nano sol: Waterproofing of coated brick

Low adhesive superhydrophobic surfaces possess water contact angle higher than 150° and sliding angle lower than 10°. This property can lead to water and contamination rejection from surface. For creation of this characteristic on brick surface, first the sol, containing particles with average size of 243.48 nm was synthesized using simple route. The contents of mentioned sol were sodium silicate, hexadecyltrimethoxysilane and oxalic acid. The prepared sol was brushed on to brick surfaces. After drying of coated brick surfaces, the water contact angle soared considerably to 153.91° and sliding angle was lower than 10°. The resulted superhydrophobic brick was further assessed using abrasion test, water immersion test and resistance against acidic and basic environments. The results represented that the superhydrophobic brick was very durable under harsh condition. The water contact angle nearly remained constant after stability tests which can assurance the application of this method in industrial scale.