Broadband Antireflective Superhydrophilic Thin Films with Outstanding Mechanical Stability on Glass Substrates

A facile approach was developed to fabricate visible/near-infrared antireflective(AR),superhydrophilic and anti-fogging thin films on glass substrates.Glass substrate was first etched by H_(2)SiF_(6)-based vapor and then dip-coated sequentially in a base-catalyzed 20 nm SiO_(2)nanoparticles sol and an acid-catalyzed SiO_(2)sol.After an-nealing,the prepared thin film(named E/BSiO_(2)/ASiO_(2))not only showed good optical and wetting properties,but also exhibited excellent mechanical properties.The thin film has enhanced transmittance in the spectral range of UV to near-infrared.The maximum transmittance of E/BSiO_(2)/ASiO_(2)thin film coated glass substrate is 98.4%in 400-1200 nm and 96.1%in 1200-2500 nm,respectively.Comparing with blank glass substrate,the average transmittance increases by 5%in the wavelength range of 300-2500 nm.Meanwhile,the film showed good anti-fogging performance.SEM and AFM were employed to characterize the morphology of the thin film.The pre-pared thin film has potential application in various areas,like solar cells,windowpanes and eyeglasses,and may also find applications in membrane-based separation,selective catalysis and sensors.