Nature, Vol.368, No.6466, 39-41, 1994
Water-Based Nonstick Hydrophobic Coatings
THERE is a considerable demand for materials that have surfaces to which other substances mill not easily stick. Coatings with these properties might be used to make surfaces non-adhesive towards soil, ice, biological foulants, graffiti and other unwanted contaminants. Here we describe a class of water-based non-stick Coatings prepared by self-assembly and immobilization of reactive polymeric surfactants(1,2). These polymer surfactants contain pendant perfluoroalkyl groups which become oriented so as to yield surfaces with very low energy. Immobilization by crosslinking increases non-stick performance and film toughness. These hard, clear coatings release adhesives and cannot bk wetted or attacked by solvents.