Superhydrophobic hybrid films prepared from silica nanoparticles and ionic liquids via layer-by-layer self-assembly

The construction of superhydrophobic surfaces is of great interest in the fields of materials science and engineering. In this work, a class of hybrid thin films with controlled wetting property was prepared from silica nanoparticles and an ionic liquid via layer-by-layer self-assembly. Positively charged ionic liquid 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazoliumbromide ([C12mim]Br) and negatively charged silica nanoparticles were alternatively adsorbed onto glass substrates. The silica nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, and the hybrid films were characterized by scanning electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The wetting property of the bulk films was examined by water contact angle measurements. The hydrophobicity of surfaces originated from the formation of nanostructure and the hydrophobic property of the ionic liquid. The change in the layer numbers, concentration of NH3·H2O and the type of silica precursor (tetramethoxysilane and tetraethoxysilane) could control the wettability. Under the optimum layer numbers and size of SiO2, a superhydrophobic (SiO2/[C12mim]Br)13 hybrid film with a contact angle of 152.3 ± 5.0° was obtained.