Study of hydrophobic SiO2 films on enamel substrate via sol-gel process

In this Letter, sol-gel was used to prepare hydrophobic films on the enamel substrate. Using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as the precursor, which was combined with dimethyldichlorosilane (DDS), films with SiO₂ nanoparticles were coated on the enamel substrate, which make the droplets contact angle increase to over 110°. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and field emission scanning electron microscope were used to determine the elements and structure of hydrophobic film on the enamel substrate. It was found that SiO₂ nanoparticles were beneficial to increase surface roughness while -CH₃ incorporated could decrease the film surface energy. The high surface roughness and low surface energy make it a hydrophobic performance which brings a new value to the application of enamel materials.