Fabrication of a robust zwitterionic coating on glass with anti-fogging, anti-frosting, self-cleaning and antibacterial properties via UV-induced grafting polymerization.

In this work, glass slides were separately silanized by silane coupling agents, 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate (TPM) and 3-(mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPS). Then, in presence of a photoinitiator, multifunctional hydrophilic coatings were fabricated facilely on these silanized glasses via UV-induced grafting polymerization of zwitterionic acrylic monomer methacryloxyethyl sulfobetaine (SBMA). The results showed that both TPM and MPS silanized glasses could participate in the UV-induced grafting polymerization of SBMA, while more SBMA could be grafted to the former glass to gain a little bit higher hydrophilicity. The structure, morphology and properties of the multifunctional glasses were investigated fully. As the hydrophilic polymer brushes poly(SBMA) (pSBMA) covalently attached to the glass surface, the glasses could render a series of excellent performances, including underwater superoleophobicity, anti-fogging, anti-frosting, abrasion resistance, self-cleaning and antibacterial adhesion, and especially high stability even after being immersed in water for 20 days. The strong interaction of pSBMA and water was confirmed via differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and Raman spectrum analysis, to explicit the anti-fogging mechanism. Therefore, it is promising that the scalable multifunctional glass fabricated via UV-induced grafting polymerization could be potentially applied in the fields of automobile, bathroom, medical, etc. [Display omitted] • A zwitterionic pSBMA coating covalently bonded on glass was fabricated via UV-induced grafting polymerization. • The coating endowed the glass with superb antifogging, antifrosting, self-cleaning, and antibacterial adhesion properties. • The strong interaction between pSBMA and water was identified via multiple techniques. • The glass coated with robust pSBMA brushes exhibited high durability and long-term antifogging property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]