A nanotubular coating with both high transparency and healable superhydrophobic self-cleaning properties

Transparent superhydrophobic coatings for the protection of material surfaces are becoming more and more important along with the rapid development of intelligent electronic displays. Here we present an easily fabricated, transparent and healable superhydrophobic self-cleaning coating. The polyaniline nanofiber network is coated with a silica shell by chemical vapor deposition of tetraethoxysilane catalyzed by ammonia. A porous silica nanotubular coating is obtained after calcination. By releasing perfluorooctyl acid packed in the pores of nanotubes at mild conditions, healable self-cleaning performance of the coating is achieved. The coating has high transparency for reading letters and pictures beneath the coated glass plate.