Hydrophobic Coatings

Our liquid glass coatings are also known as hydrophobic coatings, since one of the primary characteristics of the technology is that it makes all substrates it is applied to resistant to water, oil and other liquids. The hydrophobic effect of our coatings can be observed by watching how liquid substances are repelled by a treated surface and fall off.

Hydrophobic coatings for absorbent surfaces

Absorbent surfaces such as textiles made of interlacing fibres, or wood and stone can be very porous surfaces. Moreover these surfaces allow water and other liquid substances to easily penetrate and in many instances cause unwanted staining and damage leading to mould. Our liquid glass coatings make these surfaces hydrophobic ensuring that these unwanted substances are unable to penetrate them.

How to test the performance of hydrophobic coatings on absorbent surfaces

Hydrophobicity tests with absorbent surfaces are the most visible. In order to test the performance of the hydrophobic coating on absorbent surfaces such as textile, simply pour a few drops of water on the material and if the liquid is unable to penetrate the surface, this implies that it is hydrophobic. Typically hydrophobic coatings tend force the liquid to bead on a surface as demonstrated in the image below. This is an image of a white shirt coated in our liquid glass textile coating / hydrophobic coating repelling blackcurrant juice.

The contact angle of liquid droplet and the surface is also an indicator that tells us exactly how hydrophobic a surface is. A coating is more hydrophobic when there is less contact between the droplet and the surface, and typically these are referred to as being superphobic.

Hydrophobic coatings for non-absorbent, hard surfaces

Different glass surfaces are composed of different substances and finishes requiring different methods of care. Many glass surfaces found in most homes such as windows, shower doors, and auto glass are made up of porous glass surfaces .The voids in porous glass can easily become filled with contaminants such as minerals found in hard water. These contaminants can adhere to the porous surfaces of glass causing obscured clarity and staining. However to the naked eye hard surfaces such as glass and metals are naturally hydrophobic. Coating these surfaces with liquid glass ensures that the pores prone to staining are covered and protected. Additional characteristics of the hydrophobic coating are; creating an easy to clean layer, reducing various forms of corrosion cause by factors like salt and harsh chemicals, creating a cationic surface preventing bacteria growth, improving smoothness and aerodynamics of a surface helping reduce drag.

How to test the preformance of hydrophobic coatings on non-absorbent, hard surfaces?

Speed test: The speed at which a liquid rolls off a surface will alter depending on the hydrophobicity of the substrate. After coating a surface in liquid glass, water and other substances will roll off the substrate a lot quicker. An easy way to test this this is by simply throwing water on a treated and untreated surface and compare the difference. There will also be less residue left on the treated surface.

Beading test: When most surfaces are exposed to water or other liquids, the liquid tends to shear across the entire surface. After being coated in liquid glass the liquid will bead on the surface and beads pull together as the treated surface is trying to repel them.