Flame Synthesis of Anti-Fogging Coatings

The wetting properties of surfaces greatly influence their interaction with the environment. Recently, many studies have focused on the development of efficient coating methods for extreme surface wetting features. Self - cleaning, bacteria - resistant, and anti - fogging surfaces are made by depositing either super - hydrophobic or super - hydrophilic coatings. That impact several applications such as sport and sanitary equipment, lenses for optical devices, reading glasses, automobile windscreens, windows and mirrors to name a few. Here, silica and silica - titanium oxide nanostructured coatings have been deposited by FSP onto glass substrates and in situ stabilized by flame annealing. The coatings synthesis mechanism has been investigated for the different materials by analysis of the aerosol and coating properties. The coating transparency, stability and wetting features have been characterized as a function of deposition time (thickness and surface coverage) for each material and correlated to their anti - fogging performance.