Ashland Licensing and Intellectual Property LLC

Subbareddy Kanagasabapathy

Richard J Baumgart

Frances Ellen Lockwood

Wen-Chen Su

Vinod Kanniah

A coating composition and process for generating transparent, near-transparent, and semi-transparent super-hydrophobic coatings on surfaces having a contact angle of greater than 165 degrees. The composition comprises hydrophobic nanoparticles of silsesquioxanes containing adhesion promoter groups and low surface energy groups.

Coating compositions for producing transparent super-hydrophobic surfaces

A hydrophobic coating has been made for use on interior pipe surfaces, exterior boat surfaces, and in many other applications, to reduce drag in fluid flow, thus providing an energy savings. The coating utilizes a blend of organic and/or inorganic polymers with hydrophobic nanoparticles of fumed silica and/or titania in a solvent. The coating solves the problem of poor resistance to UV light and/or abrasion found in previous coatings of similar nature. The coating of the present invention can be made to be translucent and nearly transparent whereas previous coatings of comparable hydrophobicity have all been white or opaque. The coating can be applied in a single application by an easy spraying method and the super hydrophobic property can be achieved by drying the film at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes. A preferred coating has good resistance to UV light and some resistance to abrasion. The hydrophobic drag reduction coating composition forms an almost clear, translucent film or coating on painted material, plastic, metal, glass, ceramic, fiberglass or polymer substrate. A preferred coating composition comprising an effective amount of a treated fumed silica in a solvent resulting in a coated surface providing a contact angle of at least 165 degrees as compared to water having a contact angle of from 10 to 15 degrees on a noncoated surface. The composition imparts a degree of hydrophobicity to a surface so that the surface will have a tilt angle of sliding of less than 2 degrees as compared to water on a noncoated surface having a tilt angle of sliding of 90 degrees or higher.

Hydrophobic coating compositions for drag reduction

Coating compositions of the present invention comprise hydrophobic particles, an alcohol, a solvent, and an effective amount of water such that coatings formed therefrom are hydrophobic. The hydrophobic particles may comprise a metal oxide, such as silica (SiO), alumina (AlO), titania (TiO), or zinc oxide (ZnO), or combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the hydrophobic particles comprise fumed silica. The amount of hydrophobic particles is in the range of from about 0.3 wt. % to about 2 wt. %. In one embodiment, the effective amount of water is at least about 0.066 wt. %. The ratio of the amount of the solvent to the amount of the alcohol is slightly less than 100, and, in another embodiment, is at least about 50 to 50. A surface treated with the composition is characterized by a water contact angle of 115&#xb0; or more, and more particularly 135&#xb0; or more.

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Lexington, KY, United States of America

Subbareddy Kanagasabapathy