Producing superhydrophobic/oleophobic coatings on Cultural Heritage building materials

Water is the main vehicle of decay agents in Cultural Heritage building materials exposed to weathering. In this work, a simple method to produce superhydrophobic/oleophobic coatings building materials, including under outdoors conditions, has been developed. In addition, a study of the behavior of the developed coatings on different substrates (limestone, granite, concrete and wood) is reported. The addition of 40 nm-SiO2 nanoparticles to a fluoroalkylsilane reduces surface energy and produces a Cassie-Baxter surface in all the materials evaluated. It promotes high static contact angle values of around 160 degrees, and a contact angle hysteresis of around 3 degrees, giving rise to repellence. The building surfaces also demonstrate an excellent self-cleaning performance. The coatings maintain the building materials esthetics as required in the Cultural Heritage field. Finally, the coating presents a long-lasting performance due to condensation reactions producing effective grafting to the four building materials evaluated.