One-step spraying achieved superhydrophobic fluoroSiO2@epoxy coating with corrosion-wear resistance and anti-wetting stability

Biomimetic superhydrophobic materials with reduced liquid-solid interfacial contact, non-wetting and water repelling properties exhibits promising multi-functional application potentials, but hindered by poor mechanical stability, complex preparation process, expensive reagents, strict equipment requirements, and ecologically environmental pollution. Herein, we developed a corrosion resistant and mechanically stable superhydrophobic coating based on modified fluoroSiO2 and epoxy resin via a facile one-step spray-coating technique. The electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization results confirmed the remarkably enhanced corrosion resistance of the superhydrophobic fluoroSiO2 @epoxy coating with a corrosion inhibition efficiency of 99.86%. More importantly, the created superhydrophobic fluoroSiO2 @epoxy coating maintains its non-wetting Cassie-Baxter state, self-cleaning and anti-fouling properties after continuously tape-peeling cycles, abrasion cycles, self-cleaning cycles and standard cross-cut tape tests, verifying a strengthened coating/substrate binding force and wear resistance. The easy adaptability and scalability of the spray-coating approach and mechanical robustness of the designed superhydrophobic fluoroSiO2 @epoxy coating will greatly expand its real-world application fields.