Organic polymer composite with inorganic SiO2 particles for mechanical robustness and self-cleaning anti-reflective coatings

Anti-reflective coatings prepared from SiO₂ nanoparticles have excellent anti-reflective properties, but the coating's poor mechanical properties and low self-cleaning performance limit its practical application. In this work, SiO₂ nanoparticles were modified into hydrophobic particles using surface modification, and then organic polymer were added as a binder to formulate SiO₂ sols, which were coated onto a glass substrate to form a anti-reflective coating. The coating can enable the glass substrate to achieve a transmittance of 99.1 % at 580 nm, and it can increase the average transmittance of the glass substrate from 89.6 % to 96.2 % in the 400–1100 nm band. In addition, the coatings prepared from hydrophobic SiO₂ nanoparticles composite organic polymers have a water contact angle of 136°, resulting in good self-cleaning properties. The organic polymers can connect the SiO₂ nanoparticles together, increasing the mechanical properties of the coating. This multifunctional anti-reflective coating with high transmittance, good mechanical properties and self-cleaning is beneficial in many applications, such as photovoltaic glass, architectural glass, displays and more.