Investigation of self‐cleaning and bouncing properties of superhydrophobic aluminum nitride/silicone rubber

Abstract In order to investigate the effect of aluminum nitride (AlN) on the self‐cleaning and bouncing properties of room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber, a superhydrophobic AlN/RTV composite with micro‐nano structure was prepared by powder scattering technology. The method combines the characteristics of RTV curing at room temperature, and has the advantages of simple operation, low cost and easy realization. Bouncing experiments, with different droplet sizes, different tilting angles and different temperatures, and self‐cleaning experiments were designed. The micro‐morphology of superhydrophobic surface was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer, and interferometric 3D profilometer. The results show that the static contact angle and the rolling angle of AlN/RTV are 157.7 ± 0. 9° and 4.2 ± 0.7°, respectively. Many micro‐roughness structures were formed on the RTV surface by AlN, which reduced the contact area between droplets and the sample surface, so the samples had outstanding self‐cleaning and bouncing properties.