Tuning Side Chain Amphiphilicity in Polymers: Implications for Interfacial Properties and Anti-Fog, Anti-Icing, and Anti-Fouling Performance

Transparent devices often suffer from water fog accumulation that diminishes both transparency and operability, an issue that significantly compromises both safety and practicality. While amphiphilic coatings demonstrate considerable potential for anti-fog applications, precise regulation of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic monomer ratio in the interfacial composition remains crucial. This study employed fluorinated silicone resin as the primary matrix, incorporating amphiphilic oligomers with varying hydrophilic/hydrophobic monomer ratios to develop a series of coatings with tunable wettability. The influence of monomer ratio on the interfacial characteristics and protective performance was systematically investigated. When the ratio of butyl methacrylate to 1-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone reached 4:4 and 2:6, the amphiphilic units reached a state of equilibrium. The silicone-based coatings with balanced amphiphilic units, TOF-B4P4 and TOF-B2P6, exhibited outstanding fog condensation inhibition and accelerated fog dissipation capabilities, reducing fog dissipation time by approximately half. Furthermore, these coatings demonstrated effective resistance to bacterial adhesion (94.2 ± 0.4