Transparent, Adherent, and Photocatalytic SiO2-TiO2 Coatings on Polycarbonate for Self-Cleaning Applications

Photocatalytic TiO2 coatings are famously known for their excellent self-cleaning behavior, where very thin water layer formed on the superhydrophilic surface can easily wash-off the dirt particles while flowing. Here we report the preparation of the optically transparent, adherent, highly wettable towards water and photocatalytic SiO2-TiO2 coatings on polycarbonate (PC) substrate for self-cleaning applications. The silica barrier layer was applied on UV-treated PC substrate before spin coating the SiO2-TiO2 coatings. The effect of different vol% of SiO2 in TiO2 and its influence on the surface morphology, mechanical stability, wettability, and photocatalytic properties of the coatings were studied in detail. The coatings prepared from 7 vol% of SiO2 in TiO2 showed smooth, crack-free surface morphology and low surface roughness compared to the coatings prepared from the higher vol% of SiO2 in TiO2. The water drops on this coating acquires a contact angle less than 10 degrees after UV irradiation for 30 min. All the coatings prepared from different vol% (7 to 20) of SiO2 in TiO2 showed high transparency in the visible range.