A superhydrophobic and self-cleaning surface including a substrate and a superhydrophobic layer. The superhydrophobic layer having a reacted form of octadecyltrichlorosilane. The octadecyltrichlorosilane is disposed on and crosslinked to a surface of the substrate via surface hydroxyl groups. The surface exhibits a rms roughness of 40 nm to 60 nm, a water contact angle of 155 to 180, and a contact angle hysteresis of less than 15. A method of preparing the substrate with a superhydrophobic and self-cleaning surface including treating a substrate with a plasma treatment, contacting the substrate with water or an alcohol to form an hydroxylated substrate, contacting the hydroxylated substrate with a solution of octadecyltrichlorosilane in an alkane solvent at a concentration in the range of 0.05 M to 0.3 M, and drying the solution on to the substrate under ambient air to form the superhydrophobic and self-cleaning surface on the substrate.

A medical device such as a stent (10) or medical balloon (40) is functionalised prior to coating with a bioactive material (54), specifically by acidification or basification the contact surface or surfaces (50) of the medical device. Functionalisation with subsequent coating of bioactive agent directly onto the functionalised surface provides a significantly more consistent and reliable coating of bioactive agent on a medical device without requiring containment or time release devices.

A superhydrophobic and self-cleaning surface including a substrate and a superhydrophobic layer. The superhydrophobic layer having a reacted form of octadecyltrichlorosilane. The octadecyltrichlorosilane is disposed on and crosslinked to a surface of the substrate via surface hydroxyl groups. The surface exhibits a rms roughness of 40 nm to 60 nm, a water contact angle of 155 to 180, and a contact angle hysteresis of less than 15. A method of preparing the substrate with a superhydrophobic and self-cleaning surface including treating a substrate with a plasma treatment, contacting the substrate with water or an alcohol to form an hydroxylated substrate, contacting the hydroxylated substrate with a solution of octadecyltrichlorosilane in an alkane solvent at a concentration in the range of 0.05 M to 0.3 M, and drying the solution on to the substrate under ambient air to form the superhydrophobic and self-cleaning surface on the substrate.

Systems and methods for monitoring the quality of a surface treatment applied to an article in a manufacturing process are provided. A surface treatment may be applied to at least a portion of an article. A thermal profile of the article may be obtained and used to determine temperature indications of different regions of the article to which the surface treatment has been applied. A standard model of the article may be obtained that includes model regions having model temperature ranges. The temperature indications of the article can be compared with the model temperature ranges to determine if any temperature indications are outside of a corresponding model temperature range. The article may be a shoe part. The surface treatments may include the application of heat, plasma, dye, paint, primer, and/or the application of other materials, substances, and/or processes.

A low reflectivity coating (40, 80/82) is provided on a substrate (22). The coating includes a layer of substantially vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (40) on an exposed surface (21) of the substrate. Provided on and extending partially within the carbon nanotube layer (40) is a hydrophobic coating (80, 82), in the preferred embodiment of or containing fluorocarbon. The hydrophobic coating (80, 82) prevents any settling or ingress of water particles onto or into the carbon nanotube layer (40) and as a result increases the stability of the carbon nanotube layer during use (40) while improving the low reflectivity of the film.

A treatment-target modification device is configured to modify a treatment target being conveyed, with discharge. The treatment-target modification device includes: a hydrophilization unit configured to perform hydrophilization treatment on the treatment target (20; and a measurement unit configured to measure two-dimensional distribution of a reflectance spectrum of light reflected from the hydrophilization-treated treatment target.

Embodiments relate to surface treating a substrate, spraying precursor onto the substrate using supercritical carrier fluid, and post-treating the substrate sprayed with the precursor to form a layer with nanometer thickness of material on the substrate. A spraying assembly for spraying the precursor includes one or more spraying modules and one or more radical injectors at one or more sides of the spraying module. A differential spread mechanism is provided between the spraying module and the radical injectors to inject spread gas that isolates the sprayed precursor and radicals generated by the radical injectors. As relative movement between the substrate and the spraying assembly is made, portions of the substrate is exposed to first radicals, sprayed with precursors either one of the spraying modules or both spraying modules using supercritical carrier fluid, and then exposed to second radicals again.

The present disclosure is directed to peelable, heat-sealable lidding films for containers of diverse polymer compositions storing various products such as foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. The lidding films disclosed herein can be heat-sealed to crystalline polyester trays (CPET), easily peeled, and contain improved antifogging performance by incorporating a non-migratory antifogging additive into the heat sealable layer of the film without deteriorating seal strengths.

Provided is an apparatus for treating a workpiece, in particular a plate-shaped workpiece, said apparatus comprising: a coating device configured to apply a coating material, in particular a strip-shaped coating material, to a workpiece; a lacquer application device configured to apply a lacquer to the coating material; and a structuring device configured to adjust a gloss value and/or a haptic property of the surface provided with the lacquer.

A low reflectivity coating (40, 80/82) is provided on a substrate (22). The coating includes a layer of substantially vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (40) on an exposed surface (21) of the substrate. Provided on and extending partially within the carbon nanotube layer (40) is a hydrophobic coating (80, 82), in the preferred embodiment of or containing fluorocarbon. The hydrophobic coating (80, 82) prevents any settling or ingress of water particles onto or into the carbon nanotube layer (40) and as a result increases the stability of the carbon nanotube layer during use (40) whilst improving the low reflectivity of the film.