A novel self-cleaning coating with silicon carbide nanowires.

A novel self-cleaning glass was successfully achieved by coating macroscopical SiC nanowires (SiCNWs) in tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) solution. The water contact angle (CA) was high, up to approximately 160 degrees, and the sliding angle was low, down to approximately 5 degrees, when SiCNWs were coated through 10 cycles, with a high roughness Ra of 1928.9 nm. High chemical stability was obtained even after immersing the sample in water for 14 days (336 h). The calculated data by using nano/micropillar composite structure model displayed a beneficial understanding on thehydrophobic property. The feasible coating on any substrate, high CA, and long lifetime make SiCNW a potential superhydrophobic material in various self-cleaning fields.