Nonfluorinated, transparent, and antireflective hydrophobic coating with self-cleaning function

Transparent coatings with self-cleaning function have great promise for outdoor applications, such as solar cells, windshields, and lenses. However, their applications are limited by the low transmittance and fluorinated materials. Therefore, it is critical to develop highly transparent and non-fluorinated coatings with low-cost. Herein, we report a transparent, antireflective, and fluorine-free highly-hydrophobic coating. A transmittance of 95.0% was obtained for the coated glass across the broad wavelength range of 394–804 nm, and with a maximum value of 99.5% around 553.5 nm, much better than the bare glass (91.1%). The water contact angle (WCA) of 142.0° and a sliding angle < 10° enable a great self-cleaning function of the coating, which exhibits an impressive thermal stability at − 25–550 ℃, an outstanding resistance to sand ablation and long-term UVA radiation. Therefore, this work may provide not only promising coating but also great inspiration for the development of coating that owns high transmittance and self-cleaning function.