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PAPER www.rsc.org/materials | Journal of Materials Chemistry

Rapid and substrate-independent layer-by-layer fabrication of antireflection-

and antifogging-integrated coatings†
Ling Zhang,a Zhen-An Qiao,b Miao Zheng,a Qisheng Huob and Junqi Sun*a
Received 22nd March 2010, Accepted 4th May 2010
DOI: 10.1039/c0jm00792g

The antireflection- and antifogging-integrated coatings are widely useful in daily life because they can
effectively enhance the transmission of light and meanwhile considerably prevent water condensation.
Herein, we present a rapid, straightforward and substrate-independent method for the fabrication of
antireflection- and antifogging-integrated coatings by layer-by-layer deposition of mesoporous silica
Published on 18 June 2010 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/C0JM00792G

(MSiO2) nanoparticles and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA). Quartz substrates

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covered with (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings exhibit both antireflection and antifogging properties because
the highly porous MSiO2 nanoparticles and their loose stacking in MSiO2/PDDA coatings enable the
fabrication of superhydrophilic porous coatings with a low refractive index. A maximum transmittance
of 99.9% in the visible spectral range is achieved for the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings deposited on quartz
substrates. The antireflection and antifogging coatings can be conveniently deposited on daily used
plastic substrates such as polycarbonate and Columbia resin CR-39. The rapid fabrication of the
antireflection and antifogging (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings is benefited from the large dimension and the
fast adsorption kinetics of MSiO2 nanoparticles.

Introduction laparoscopic and gastroscopic surgery, and so forth.2,6,7 Highly

The antireflection (AR) coatings which can effectively enhance
the transmission of light have attracted intensive interest because
they are indispensable for almost all kinds of optical and dis-
playing devices.1,2 The principle of AR is the destructive inter-
ference between light reflected from the coating-substrate and the
air-coating interfaces.3 Generally, an ideal homogeneous single-
layer AR coating should satisfy the following two conditions: (i)
The thickness of the coating is l/4nc, where l is the wavelength of
the incident light, and nc is the refractive index of the coating; (ii)
nc ¼ (nans)1/2, where na and ns are the refractive indexes of the air
and the substrate, respectively. Nanoporous films with a low
refractive index of 1.22 and a thickness of one-quarter of the
visible wavelength are frequently used as AR coatings on glass or
transparent plastic substrates which have a refractive index of
1.5.1–3 Meanwhile, antifogging coatings which can effectively
prevent water condensation on transparent substrates are of
great importance on various practical usages. Superhydrophilic
coatings, on which the water contact angle is less than 5 within
0.5 s as soon as the water droplet contacts such surfaces,4–6 are
proven to have antifogging ability by rapid spreading and flow-
ing of water droplets condensed on them.6 The coatings with
integrated AR and antifogging properties are highly desired in
daily used eyeglasses, swimming goggles, periscopes, lenses in
a
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College
of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China. E-mail:
sun_junqi@jlu.edu.cn.; Fax: +0086-431-85193421
b
State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry,
College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, China
† Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: UV-vis
transmission spectra of LbL assembled MSiO2/PDDA films fabricated
with different dipping times and in situ QCM measurements of
alternate deposition of SiO2 nanoparticles with PDDA. See DOI:
10.1039/c0jm00792g
nanoporous films comprising of hydrophilic materials with low
refractive index meet the requirement of integrated AR and
antifogging coatings.6 However, the fabrication of substrate-
independent AR and antifogging coatings with large areas by
a cost-effective and straightforward method remains a technical
challenge.
The layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique, which is
substrate-independent for fabrication of large-area composite
films with well-tailored composition and structures,8 holds great
promise for the fabrication of AR and antifogging coatings.6
However, the LbL assembly is generally a time-consuming
process especially for the fabrication of thick film materials.9 The
deposition of one layer of film usually takes several tens of
minutes and multiple cycles of film deposition are required for
the fabrication of AR and antifogging coatings.6 For instance,
the fabrication of AR and antifogging coatings by LbL deposi-
tion of polycation-inorganic complexes of 13 nm and poly-
anions followed with postcalcination is time-consuming.
Coatings with 12 deposition cycles are required to achieve
satisfactory transmittance in the visible region and the deposition
of one layer of films takes 20 min.6d Meanwhile, the requirement
of post treatments such as calcination to induce porosity prevents
the fabrication of AR and antifogging coatings by LbL assembly
on commonly used transparent plastic substrates.6c–d,10 There-
fore, the exploration of LbL assembly to realize the rapid, direct
fabrication of substrate-independent AR and antifogging coat-
ings becomes critical to meet the growing demands for practical
applications. While derived LbL assembly techniques such as
spin LbL assembly,11 spray LbL assembly12 and exponential LbL
assembly13 are frequently used to speed up the LbL assembly
process, we pay much attention to the rapid fabrication of LbL
assembled films by using building blocks with large dimen-
sions.9b,14 Herein, we put this concept for rapid LbL assembled

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film fabrication a step further by the combination of large
dimensional building blocks with their fast adsorption kinetics.
We report that the rapid LbL fabrication of AR and antifogging
coatings can be achieved by three cycles of alternate deposition
of mesoporous silica (MSiO2) nanoparticles and poly-
(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) without any post
treatment, benefited from the large dimension, high porosity and
fast adsorption kinetics of the MSiO2 nanoparticles. The AR and
antifogging coatings of MSiO2/PDDA can be deposited
uniformly on various kinds of substrates including quartz, pol-
ycarbonate (PC) and Columbia resin (CR-39), promising a wide
range of practical applications in daily life.
Published on 18 June 2010 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/C0JM00792G
Experimental
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Materials
PDDA (Mw ca. 100 000–200 000), branched poly(ethylenimine)
(PEI, Mw ca. 2 5000) and mercaptopropylsilane (MPTS) were
purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS 98%)
was purchased from Beijing Chemical Works. All chemicals were
used without further purification. CR-39 eyeglasses (refractive
index of 1.498) were purchased from Shanghai Yiyang Opto-
electronics CO., LTD. PC swimming goggles (refractive index of
1.585) were purchased from Shenzhen Allwell Sports Produc-
tions CO., LTD. Water purified in a Milli-Q (Millipore) system
was used for all the LbL coating fabrication. The MSiO2 nano-
particles with a diameter of 50 nm were synthesized according
to a procedure published previously.15 MSiO2 nanoparticles have
a pore size of 2.1 nm, BET surface areas of 851 m2 g1 and high
pore volumes of 2.1 cm3 g1. The surfaces of the MSiO2 nano-
particles were modified with sulfonate groups and have a z-
potential of 33.2 mV.16
Synthesis of solid silica nanoparticles
The solid silica (SiO2) nanoparticles with a diameter of 47 nm
were prepared using the St€ober method.17 MPTS was introduced
into the SiO2 nanoparticles through the co-condensation method
where the molar ratio of TEOS to MPTS was 10 : 1. Samples
were washed by repeated centrifugation at 10 000 rmp for 20 min
and redispersed in water under sonication. The oxidation of the
mercapto groups to sulfonate groups was conducted by reacting
the SiO2 nanoparticles in concentrated hydrogen peroxide (30%)
for 24 h at room temperature.16 The SiO2 nanoparticles were
washed with pure ethanol and water after oxidation. The SiO2
nanoparticles modified with sulfonate groups were redispersed in
water to a final concentration of 0.2 wt%. The aqueous suspen-
sion of SiO2 nanoparticles with sulfonate groups has a z-poten-
tial of 27.8 mV.
Preparation of MSiO2/PDDA coatings
The freshly cleaned quartz, silicon wafer or Au/Ag-coated quartz
crystal microbalance (QCM) resonator were first immersed in
PDDA aqueous solution (1.0 mg mL1) for 20 min to obtain
a cationic ammonium-terminated surface. Then, the substrate
covered with a layer of cationic PDDA was alternately dipped
into aqueous MSiO2 suspension (0.17 wt%) and PDDA solution
(1 mg mL1) for 5 min each time, with intermediate water
6126 | J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20, 6125–6130
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washing for 1 min and drying with N2 flow. In this way, one
bilayer of MSiO2/PDDA coating was fabricated. An AR and
antifogging coating can be obtained after three deposition cycles
of MSiO2/PDDA coatings. Branched PEI was used to modify
CR-39 eyeglasses and PC swimming goggles because of their
strong affinity toward hydrophobic surfaces.18 The AR and
antifogging coatings on CR-39 and PC substrates were
fabricated in the same way as the coatings deposited on quartz
slides. In a control experiment, LbL assembled SiO2/PDDA
coatings were fabricated by alternate deposition of SiO2 nano-
particles and PDDA in the same way as that of the MSiO2/
PDDA coatings.
Characterization
Transmittance measurements at normal incidence were per-
formed using a Shimadzu UV-3600 spectrophotometer. Quartz
crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements were taken with a Q-
Sense QCM-E1 or KSV QCM-Z500 at room temperature. The
adsorption kinetics of MSiO2 nanopariticles and PDDA were
monitored by in situ QCM measurements using Q-Sense E1 on
Au-coated quartz resonators (QS  301, F0 ¼ 5 MHz,
diameter ¼ 14 mm). The crystal was mounted in a fluid cell with
one side exposed to the solution. Solutions of MSiO2 nano-
particles and PDDA were infiltrated into the cell and the
frequency shifts of the crystal as a function of time were recor-
ded. The alternate deposition of MSiO2/PDDA coatings was
followed with a KSV QCM-Z500 using quartz resonators with
both sides coated with Ag (F0 ¼ 9 MHz, diameter ¼ 5 mm).
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were obtained on
an XL30 ESEM FEG scanning electron microscope. The
measurements of film thickness were obtained from their cross-
sectional SEM images. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images
were taken with a Nanoscope IIIa AFM Multimode (Digital
Instruments, Santa Barbara, CA, USA) under ambient condi-
tions. AFM was operated in the tapping mode with an optical
readout using Si cantilevers. Water contact angle measurements
were performed with a drop shape analysis system, DSA10-MK2
(Kruess, Germany), at ambient temperature. A water droplet of
1 mL was used as the indicator to characterize the wetting
property of the coatings. The spreading process of the water
droplet was recorded by a CCD camera with a frame rate of 25
frames s1. Refractive index values of the coatings were obtained
using a variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometer (model VASE;
J. A. Woollam Inc., Lincoln, NE, USA) at incident angles of 65,
70 and 75 within a wavelength range of 500–1000 nm.19
Results and discussion
The negatively charged MSiO2 nanoparticles can be LbL
assembled with polycation PDDA based on electrostatic inter-
action as the driving force to prepare MSiO2/PDDA multilayer
films. In situ QCM measurements were first employed to deter-
mine the adsorption kinetics of LbL assembled MSiO2 nano-
particles and PDDA without intermediate coating drying after
each layer deposition. As shown in Fig. 1a, a significant decrease
in QCM frequency is observed after the infiltration of the cell
with aqueous MSiO2 nanoparticle suspension, confirming the
deposition of MSiO2 nanoparticles on PDDA-deposited
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Fig. 1 (a) In situ QCM measurements of alternate deposition of MSiO2
nanoparticles and PDDA. Inset in Fig. 1a shows the enlarged adsorption
kinetics curve of PDDA on top of MSiO2 nanoparticles (Au-coated
quartz resonator with F0 ¼ 5 MHz was used). (b) QCM frequency
decrease (DF) of alternate deposition of MSiO2 nanoparticles (B) and
PDDA (,) (Ag-coated quartz resonator with F0 ¼ 9 MHz was used).
resonator. The MSiO2 nanoparticles reach their adsorption
saturation within 3 min. Then, the resonator was washed by
a flow of water for 5 min. No obvious change in the frequency
could be observed during the water washing process. Next, the
resonator was infiltrated with PDDA solution. The saturation
adsorption of PDDA on top of the MSiO2 nanoparticle layer
completes within 4 min (inset in Fig. 1a). An average frequency
decrease of ca. 320.9 and 31.7 Hz for the deposition of one layer
of MSiO2 nanoparticles and PDDA is obtained, respectively.
The adsorption kinetics measurements indicate that a 5 min-
dipping in aqueous MSiO2 suspension and PDDA solution is
long enough to ensure their saturated adsorption. Therefore,
a dipping time of 5 min was used for the LbL fabrication of
MSiO2/PDDA coatings in the following experiments. The fast
adsorption kinetics of MSiO2 nanoparticles and PDDA can
largely shorten the length of time used for LbL fabrication of
MSiO2/PDDA coatings. QCM measurements were employed to
follow the LbL deposition of MSiO2/PDDA coatings with
a drying step being conducted after each layer deposition, as in
the case for the fabrication of AR and antifogging coatings on
quartz and plastic substrates. As shown in Fig. 1b, QCM
measurements show a linear deposition of MSiO2/PDDA
multilayer coatings, indicating the successful fabrication of the
MSiO2/PDDA coatings. The frequency decreases for the
deposition of one layer of MSiO2 nanoparticles and PDDA are
874.0  90.2 and 97.4  32.3 Hz, respectively.
Fig. 2a depicts the transmission spectra of a quartz substrate
deposited with different cycles of MSiO2/PDDA coatings. A
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Fig. 2 (a) UV-vis transmission spectra of MSiO2/PDDA coatings on
a quartz substrate with different deposition cycles. (b) Photograph of
quartz substrates exposed to sunlight. Bottom: a quartz substrate with
both sides covered with (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings. Top: a bare quartz
substrate.
gradual increase in transmittance is observed with the deposition
of MSiO2/PDDA coatings on the quartz substrate with its
inherent transmittance of 93% in the spectral range between 300
and 800 nm. The wavelength of the maximum transmission of
MSiO2/PDDA coatings is thickness-dependent and shifts to
a longer wavelength region with increasing number of coating
deposition cycles. The (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings have
a maximum transmittance of 99.9% within the wavelength range
of 540 to 621 nm, which covers the most sensitive range of human
eyes to visible light. The AR property of the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3
coatings can be clearly recognized in Fig. 2b. When exposed to
sunlight, the bare quartz slide reflects the sunlight strongly. The
words below are not as clear as those under the quartz with both
sides deposited with (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings. Control
experiments show that the AR property of the (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coatings deposited on quartz slides with different
length of dipping time of 5 min, 10 min and 20 min is the same
(see supporting information†), which further confirms that the
rapid fabrication of antireflective MSiO2/PDDA coatings can
benefit from the fast adsorptioin kinetics of MSiO2 nanoparticles
and PDDA.
The top-view SEM image of the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coating
deposited on a quartz substrate shows that the (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coating is comprised of loosely stacked MSiO2
nanoparticles (Fig. 3a). The interstices among the loosely stacked
sphere-like MSiO2 nanoparticles as well as the high porosity of
the MSiO2 nanoparticles leads to a (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coating of
low refractive index of 1.20 which satisfies the demand of AR
coatings. The (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings have a low root-mean-
square (rms) roughness of 22.5 nm (in a measured area of
1010 mm2) compared with the wavelength of visible light, as
measured by AFM. The low surface roughness and the tiny
MSiO2 nanoparticles can avoid scattering of visible light within
the coating. Fig. 3b shows the cross-sectional SEM image of
J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20, 6125–6130 | 6127

Fig. 3 Top-view (a) and cross-sectional (b) SEM image of a (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coating.
a (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coating, which has a constant thickness of
120.6  10.4 nm. This value is consistent with the maximum
Published on 18 June 2010 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/C0JM00792G
transmittance in the wavelength range of 540 to 621 nm. It is the
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large dimension of the MSiO2 nanoparticles that enables the
fabrication of AR coatings in the visible region within three
deposition cycles.
In a control experiment, SiO2/PDDA coatings were fabricated
by LbL assembly of solid SiO2 nanoparticles and PDDA in the
same way as that of the MSiO2/PDDA coatings. In situ QCM
measurements indicate that the saturation adsorption of SiO2
nanoparticles and PDDA can complete within 5 min, with an
average frequency decrease of ca. 232.9 and 15.1 Hz for one layer
of SiO2 nanoparticles and PDDA, respectively (see Fig. S2†). As
shown in Fig. 4a, with the deposition of SiO2/PDDA coatings on
the quartz substrate, a gradual increase in transmittance can also
be observed with the (SiO2/PDDA)*7 coating having
a maximum transmittance of only 97.7% at a wavelength of
581 nm. The (SiO2/PDDA)*7 coating has a refractive index
value of 1.23 at a wavelength of 500 nm. The (SiO2/PDDA)*7
coating with an average thickness of 119.7  20.7 nm has
Fig. 4 (a) UV-vis transmittance spectra of LbL assembled SiO2/PDDA
coatings on a quartz slide with different deposition cycles. (b) Top-view
SEM images of a (SiO2/PDDA)*7 coating. Inset in (b) is the cross-
sectional SEM image of a (SiO2/PDDA)*7 coating.
6128 | J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20, 6125–6130
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a similar surface morphology as that of the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3
coating (Fig. 4b). More deposition cycles are needed for SiO2/
PDDA coatings to reach the same thickness of (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coatings. This result is consistent with the in situ QCM
measurements that frequency decrease for the deposition of one
layer of SiO2 nanoparticles is much lower than that for one layer
of MSiO2 nanoparticles. The lower z-potential of solid SiO2
nanoparticles than MSiO2 nanoparticles leads to a weak inter-
action between SiO2 nanoparticles and the underlayered PDDA,
which reduces the amount of SiO2 nanoparticles deposited in
each deposition cycle. The (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings show
a much enhanced AR property than the (SiO2/PDDA)*7 coat-
ings. Compared with solid SiO2 nanoparticles, the highly porous
MSiO2 nanoparticles can further decrease the refractive index of
the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings,20 leading to an improved
transmittance of (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings. Therefore, MSiO2
nanoparticles are indispensable for the fabrication of AR coat-
ings of high transmittance.
The wetting behavior of the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings was
characterized by water contact angle measurements using a water
droplet of 1 mL as the indicator. As shown in Fig. 5a, the water
droplet completely spreads over the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 surface
within 0.39 s, suggesting the superhydrophilicity of the coating.
Previous studies predicted21 and proved5,6 that superhydrophilic
coatings can be fabricated by increasing the surface roughness of
a hydrophilic coating, where surface roughness refers to the ratio
of the actual surface area to the projected surface area of
a coating. The loosely stacked MSiO2 nanoparticles and the high
porosity inside the MSiO2 nanoparticles greatly increase the
actual surface area and thus the surface roughness of the coating.
Therefore, superhydrophilic MSiO2/PDDA coatings can be
Fig. 5 (a) Still image from video contact angle measurements for a water
droplet (1 mL) spreading on a quartz substrate covered with a (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coating. (b) Photograph of a quartz substrate deposited on
both sides with (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings (bottom) and a control
quartz substrate without any coating deposition (upper) taken from
a refrigerator (18  C) to the humid laboratory air (ca. 50% RH).
This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010

obtained with three deposition cycles. The antifogging property
of the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings was demonstrated by exposing
both the bare quartz slide and the quartz slide with both sides
coated with (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings to humid laboratory air
(ca. 50% RH) after cooling them at 18  C in a refrigerator. As
shown in Fig. 5b, the bare quartz slide fogged immediately and
the words below are blurred by strong light scattering. In
contrast, the slide coated with (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings can
significantly prevent fogging formation by almost instanta-
neously spreading the condensed water droplets to form a thin
sheetlike water membrane. Therefore, the slide with the (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coatings remains highly transparent and the words
below are clearly seen.
The MSiO2/PDDA coatings can be conveniently deposited on
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PEI-modified CR-39 and PC substrates which are hydrophilic
and positively charged18 to obtain AR and antifogging coatings
on eyeglasses and swimming goggles. As shown in Fig. 6a, a bare
CR-39 eyeglass with a refractive index of 1.498 has a trans-
mittance below 92% in the spectral range of 450 to 800 nm. After
three deposition cycles of MSiO2/PDDA coatings, the eyeglass
has a broad band transmittance above 98% in the wavelength
range from 500 to 700 nm. The antireflective (MSiO2/PDDA)*3
coatings effectively eliminate the light reflection of the CR-39
eyeglass and the words below them become much clearer than
those below bare eyeglass (Fig. 6b). The (MSiO2/PDDA)*3
coatings deposited on nonflat CR-39 eyeglasses and PC swim-
ming goggles can significantly prevent fogging formation. The
Fig. 6 (a) UV-vis transmission spectra of MSiO2/PDDA coatings
deposited on CR-39 eyeglass with different deposition cycles. (b) AR
behavior of a CR-39 eyeglass with both sides covered with (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coatings (left) and a bare CR-39 eyeglass without any coating
deposition (right). (c) Antifogging behavior of a PC swimming goggle
with one eyeglass covered with (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings (left) while
the other one without any coating deposition (right).
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antifogging behavior of the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings on
swimming goggles can be clearly seen in Fig. 6c.
The facile and rapid fabrication process of the (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coatings enables the convenient repair of the AR and
antifogging coatings when they are detached or worn away from
the underlying substrates during practical usage. Specifically, the
stability and repair of the AR and antifogging coatings on PC
swimming goggles were investigated. After immersing in static
water for 12 h, the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3-coated PC swimming
goggle shows no observable decrease of transmittance in the
visible region. A swimming pool environment was mimicked by
fixing a beaker filled with water on a laboratory shaking table.
The (MSiO2/PDDA)*3-coated PC swimming goggle was dipped
into the beaker fixed on the shaking table which was shaking at
a speed of 180 rpm. The UV-vis transmission spectra of the
(MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings on the PC swimming goggles were
recorded as a function of shaking time (Fig. 7). The trans-
mittance of the PC swimming goggle (with a refractive index of
1.585) in the visible region increased from 88% to 96.8% after the
(MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings were deposited on it. No decrease of
transmittance and superhydrophilicity could be observed after
shaking the PC swimming goggles for 5 h. Extending the length
of shaking time to 12 h lead to an obvious transmittance decrease
of the PC swimming goggle with the maximum transmittance
wavelength shifting to 446 nm. Compared with the transmission
spectra of PC swimming goggle deposited with different cycles of
MSiO2/PDDA coatings, we could judge that nearly one cycle of
the MSiO2/PDDA coating was delaminated from the PC swim-
ming goggles. The electrostatic interaction between MSiO2 and
PDDA layers could be broken by the impact of the shaking
water, which caused the partial delamination of the coatings. The
(MSiO2/PDDA)*3-deposited PC swimming goggle after 12 h
shaking was still antifogging but the complete spread of a 1mL
water droplet on its surface took 0.65 s. After shaking the
(MSiO2/PDDA)*3-deposited PC swimming goggle in water for
24 h, the maximum transmittance of the swimming goggle
decreased to 92.8% and the antifogging ability of the swimming
goggles disappead. However, the AR and antifogging abilities of
the MSiO2/PDDA coatings could be easily restored after LbL
deposition of two cycles of MSiO2/PDDA coatings on the
swimming goggle which were shaken for 24 h in water. The
Fig. 7 UV-vis transmission spectra of (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings
deposited on PC swimming goggles after being shaken for 0 h (curve a),
12 h (curve b) and 24 h (curve c), respectively. Curve d is the UV-vis
transmission spectra of the swimming goggles in c after LbL deposition of
two cycles of MSiO2/PDDA coatings.
J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20, 6125–6130 | 6129

repaired swimming goggles exhibited a maximum transmittance
of 97.0% at 632 nm and possessed an antifogging ability which
was the same as that deposited with freshly prepared (MSiO2/
PDDA)*3 coatings.
Conclusions
In summary, a rapid and substrate-independent LbL assembly
method has been developed for the fabrication of AR- and
antifogging-integrated coatings on various kinds of substrates by
three deposition cycles of MSiO2/PDDA coatings. The large
dimension and the rapid adsorption kinetics of MSiO2 nano-
particles enable rapid fabrication of the AR and antifogging
coatings. Meanwhile, the high porosity of the MSiO2 nano-
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particles endows the (MSiO2/PDDA)*3 coatings with excellent
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AR and antifogging properties. The facile, rapid and substrate-
independent fabrication process and the easy availability of the
MSiO2 nanoparticles promise the potential applications of the
MSiO2/PDDA coatings on the production of eyeglasses, swim-
ming goggles, periscopes, lenses in laparoscopic and gastroscopic
surgery, and so forth. The present work is also meaningful in
speeding up the fabrication of LbL assembled functional coat-
ings by using building blocks of large dimensions.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the National Basic Research Program
(2007CB808000) and the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (20788101, 20921003). The authors are grateful to Prof.
Changyou Gao and Mr Yichao Song for their assistance in
measuring the refractive index of the coatings. The authors also
thank Prof. Zhaohui Su and Mr Bo Peng at Changchun Institute
of Applied Chemistry for their assistance in in situ QCM
measurements.
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