Recoverable and thermally stable superhydrophobic silica coating

A facile route to methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) based recoverable superhydrophobic silica coatings with dual-scale roughness obtained through the single step base catalyst sol–gel process. Superhydrophobic silica coatings have shown static water contact angle near about 170 ± 1° and dynamic water contact angle up to 2 ± 1°. Superhydrophobic-superhydrophilic switching feature also achieved by alternating heat treatment and bath surface modification with Trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) at room temperature (26 °C). Furthermore, the superhydrophobic state could be transformed into superhydrophilic state by slow rate heat treatment. These studies present a very simple strategy for the fabrication of recoverable superhydrophobic surfaces.