Superhydrophobic surface by immobilization of polystyrene on vinyl-modified titania nanoparticles

Abstract The organic–inorganic nanocomposite films were fabricated by grafting polystyrene (PS) onto the vinyltriethoxysilane (VTEOS) modified titanium dioxide nanopowders using free radical polymerization. The composition of the surfaces and the structure for the PS grafted titania (PS-g-TiO 2 ) were examined by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis, and the rough surface was confirmed by the evaluation of the morphological characteristics of the coating using hybrid particles. The wetting properties of the VTEOS modified titania and PS-g-TiO 2 films were investigated, which show the maximum static water contact angles of 160° and 154°, and minimum sliding angles of 3° and 4°, respectively. Graphical Abstract