Effect of boron doping on waterproof and dielectric properties of polyborosiloxane coating on SiO_2f/SiO₂ composites

A hydrophobic coating of the silica fiber reinforced silica composites (SiO_2f/SiO₂) was synthesized by sol-gel method using methyltriethoxy-silane (MTES) and boric acid (B(OH)₃) as raw materials. The relationship among boron doping, chemical structure of precursors and durability of hydrophobic coatings was discussed. The Si-O-B and methyl groups were successfully introduced in the gel precursors according to the FT-IR and XPS results. The resins were filled in the internal and surface holes of the SiO_2f/SiO₂ composites partially or completely, which is beneficial to reduce the physical adsorption of the moisture. In addition, hydroxyl groups of the SiO_2f/SiO₂ composites reacted with the resins and hydrophobic methyl groups were introduced, leading to the reduction of the chemical adsorption of water. Also, the boron doping was beneficial to enhancing the physical cross-linking between the coating and the SiO_2f/SiO₂ composites, and improved the adhesion of the coating to the substrate. The results show that the optimal hydrophobic coating with contact angle 130.33°, moisture absorption 0.33% and adhesion level 1 is obtained when the molar ratio of MTES to B(OH)₃ is 10:4. The real permittivity of M10B4 is constant in the range of 2.32–2.51 and the dielectric tangent loss is constant in the range of 5.5 × 10⁻⁴–8.7 × 10⁻³. The hydrophobic coating has excellent dielectric properties.