TRANSPARENT ARTICLES HAVING HYDROPHOBIC OR SUPER-HYDROPHOBIC SURFACES

摘要

An article includes an optically transparent composite base material. The base material includes a first material and at least a second material different from the first material. The first material is contiguous and the second material is contiguous, wherein the first and second material form an interpenetrating structure. A plurality of spaced apart nanostructured surface features are formed from the second material and protrude from a surface of the interpenetrating structure. The second material is hydrophobic or the features are coated with a hydrophobic coating layer, wherein dimensions of features are sufficiently small to provide optical transparency to the article.