JOURNAL OF THE TAIWAN INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS, vol.120, pp.360-367, 2021 (SCI-Expanded)
In this study, optically transparent and mechanically stable of superhydrophilic composite thin films were fabricated via a low-cost one-step one pot microwave-assisted sol-gel technique. The microwave reaction time was optimized according to surface characterization of homo TMOS surfaces. The reaction time was arranged as 17.5 min having low cost compared to the conventional sol-gel technic. The wettability performance and antifogging behavior of PVA-TMOS composite films were investigated according to variation of the PVA content. The static contact angle values of the composite surfaces were found to vary between 30o and 5o. Superhydrophilic surface having tilt angle is 9o showed a good antifogging performance. Mechanical durability of the composite surface was also characterized by scratching and adhesive tape test. In addition, the time depending water contact angle was also measured for 100 days. It is found that TMPV96 composite film having 0.096 (wt,%) content of PVA showed higher mechanical performance with transparent superhydrophilic surface.