Anti-corrosion

Dielectric spectroscopy

Engineering

Biology

Biofouling

Electrochemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Sandpaper

Superhydrophobic coating

Coating

Fouling

Biochemistry

Chemical engineering

Physical chemistry

Genetics

Contact angle

Nanotechnology

Membrane

Abrasion (mechanical)

Composite material

Corrosion

Chemistry

Electrode

Wetting

Polydimethylsiloxane

Colloids and Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects

It remains a great challenge to design and achieve fluorine-free superhydrophobic materials for multifunctional applications through facile and substrate-independent approaches. Herein, environmental-friendly superhydrophobic composite coating was fabricated with the combination of nano zinc oxide (nano-ZnO) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) via a versatile spray-coating method. The surface wettability, micro-nano morphologies and chemical compositions of the superhydrophobic [email protected] coating were investigated through contact angle meter, FE-SEM, AFM, EDS, XPS and FTIR techniques. The optimal superhydrophobic [email protected] coating with water contact angle (WCA) of 158.3 ± 1.7° and sliding angle of 6.2 ± 1.8° can be achieved with the nano-ZnO/PDMS mass ratio of 1.5:1. The self-cleaning and anti-fouling ability was evaluated based on the solid and liquid contaminants. The electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS) results verified that the superhydrophobic [email protected] coating exhibits a larger capacitive arc diameter, enhanced charge transfer resistance and |Z|0.01 Hz value at the low frequency, suggesting an improvement of anti-corrosion performance. Besides, the mechanical robustness and stability of the superhydrophobic [email protected] coating were evaluated through tape-peeling and sandpaper abrasion tests, which provides potential applications towards real-world applications.

Versatile nonfluorinated superhydrophobic coating with self-cleaning, anti-fouling, anti-corrosion and mechanical stability