A novel method for the fabrication of superhydrophobic nylon net

• This method utilizes adhesive solely to construct roughness on substrates.
• This approach is successfully applied to filter paper, fiberglass cloth and glass slide.
• The superhydrophobic nylon net maintained its water repellency even after 60 cycles of oil-water separation.

In this study, we demonstrate a facile, cost-effective, and scalable method to fabricate superhydrophobic nylon net surface based on textured adhesive coating in combination with hydrophobization. The nylon net was immersed into an N-Methyl-2-pyrrolodone solution containing one-component polyurethane adhesive and then directly transferred into a glycerol aqueous solution to form a textured adhesive coating spontaneously. The silanization was further achieved through polar groups on the adhesive coating with alkylsilane compounds, forming self-assembled monolayers on the surface of nylon net. This resulted in our ability to tune the surface properties of the nylon net from being hydrophilic (18°) to superhydrophobic. The silanized adhesive coating endowed the nylon net with a water contact angle of 152° and a sliding angle less than 5°. When applied to oil-water separation, the superhydrophobic nylon mesh maintained its water repellency even after 60 cycles of oil-water separation and the separation efficiency (n-hexane) was over 95%. The method developed was also successfully applied to construct superhydrophobic filter paper, fiberglass cloth and glass slide. Moreover, this method can be simplified when applied to construct superhydrophobic filter paper. Therefore, this cost-effective, easily-operated and environment friendly method offers great technological promise in the field of constructing superhydrophobic coatings on a large scale.