(638d) Engineering of Super-Hydrophilic Coatings through Surface-Initiated Polymerization

In this presentation we address this challenge and demonstrate a facile methodology to engineer robust super-hydrophilic coatings by surface-initiated light-mediated polymerization of cationic, anionic, and zwitterionic monomers. We demonstrate excellent control over polymer brush growth kinetics in air using mild visible light and no specialized equipment. As an application, we highlight excellent anti-fogging properties of the devised coatings. While hydrophilic organic anti-fogging coatings have made it into commercial application, there is an inherent contradiction: traditional super-hydrophilic organic polymer coatings can prevent fogging, but they are also readily dissolved by water, posing significant longevity problems for many current anti-fogging solutions. Because our polymer coatings are covalently tethered to the surface, the described films are robust and durable (as indicated by transmission and tribology experiments) and resist delamination in high humidity and aqueous environments. Both inorganic and organic substrates can be coated. Finally, we indicate that our coatings can be applied to curved surfaces (relevant for e.g., photography lenses) and that coating both sides of a substrate is readily feasible.