Straightforward Approach to Antifogging, Antireflective, Dual-Function, Nanostructured Coatings

Here, we report a straightforward approach to fabricate antifogging antireflective dual-function nanostructured coatings, where antireflective nanograsses were etched into antifogging polymer coatings by self-masking reactive ion etching (RIE). The transmittance of coatings increases with the etching time, and the maximum transmittance reaches up to 98.9% in 180 s. The effective refractive index of grass-like nanostructure was calculated to be 1.15 and its optical property was simulated via the finite difference time domain (FDTD) model. The antifogging property of polymer coatings remains unchanged after RIE, which results from the hygroscopicity of polymer matrix. This strategy surpasses traditional design concepts of antifogging polymer coatings by combining excellent antireflective and antifogging properties on the same outermost layer, which demonstrates that it is probable to achieve multifunction on a single layer of a single composition.