Abstract
Nowadays, ceramic tile surface properties such as easy to clean surface is highly demanded by the market. In order to design these new easy to clean-hydrophobic surfaces, nanomaterials and/or hybrid materials will be indispensable. At present, these novel materials are hardly used in ceramic tile manufacturing processes. It is therefore necessary to develop a completely new methodology in order to suitably choose, handle, and incorporate these materials into the ceramic tile surface with a view to obtaining the desired properties.
The aim of this investigation was the industrialization of application of hydrophobic coating on tile surface by choosing appropriate tools and optimizing process parameters. Airtight mixing and spraying tank was designed to prevent gelation of hydrophobic solution during application. Then tile temperature and amount of solution was optimized. It has been observed that hydrophobic coating provide high contact angle without changing surface appearance of tiles.