Synthesis and characterization of superhydrophobic coating from silica-HDPE composite and its potential application for windshield

Condensation that occurs on the front of the windshield is a process that can be disturbing to the driver because the driver’s visibility to the road is slightly blocked. Therefore, this research aims to reduce these disturbances by modifying the windshield surface using a superhydrophobic coating of silica-high density polyethylene (HDPE) composite. Silica is synthesized by using the precipitation method. Different particle sizes produced by ethanol treatment are used to see its effect on the hydrophobicity of the composite.In addition, the composite is made by mixing the two materials at a temperature of 110 °C. The two surface treatments carry out, namely porous and non-porous. The contact angle of the two treatments increases along with the increase in the silica concentration. Besides that, the highest water contact angle value of the non-porous silica-HDPE composite was around 110.6±1.2°, while the porous composite was about 139.5±0.9°. The surface morphology obtained from the result of the literature review shows that the hydrophobicity of the composite can be increased by forming pores on the surface, using nanometer-sized silica, and multiplying the silica concentration. The composite can potentially apply because of its relatively small refractive index, good tensile strength, and low sliding angle.