A novel biopolymer-based omniphobic coating system functionalized with polysilazane for anti-smudge, chemical shielding, and bacterial anti-adhesion applications

Abstract

In this work, a novel biopolymer-based omniphobic coating system is developed using a mercaptosuccinic acid-modified soybean oil biopolymer as the coating precursor (SOMA), polysilazane (PSZ) as the omniphobic agent, and trimethylolpropane tris(2-methyl-1-aziridinepropionate) (TTMAP) as the curing agent. The resultant omniphobic coatings were highly transparent with smooth surfaces owing to their inherent coating compatibility. The introduction of polysilazane effectively reduced coating surface energy and endowed the coatings with remarkable anti-smudge properties, making them useful for anti-ink, anti-graffiti, and anti-fingerprint applications. These coatings exhibited outstanding chemical shielding performances to protect substrates from exposure to extreme corrosive environments. In addition, they were mechanically robust and could be toned into various colors without compromising coating omniphobicity. Upon experimental comparison, these omniphobic coatings showed incomparable advantages over commercial fluorinated omniphobic coatings, superomniphobic coatings, and superhydrophobic coatings in terms of liquid repellence and application prospect. Notably, they were able to repel bacterial suspension and inhibit bacterial adhesion, thus providing substrates with low bacterial adhesivity. Therefore, these newly developed biopolymer-based omniphobic coatings are sustainable and versatile in function, and they are enormously promising for widespread applications.