All-organic fluorine-free superhydrophobic bulk material with mechanochemical robustness and photocatalytic functionality

Abstract Artificial superhydrophobic surface has attracted extensive research interests and versatile applications have been demonstrated. However, such surfaces feature mechanical and chemical susceptibility and lose superhydrophobicity after oily contamination. So far, developing a simple method to fabricate superhydrophobic material featuring mechanochemical robustness along with oil fouling resistance remains challenging. Here we describe a straightforward approach to fabricate superhydrophobic bulk composite materials with photocatalytic functionality that simultaneously feature mechanochemical robustness and oil fouling resistance. The obtained bulk material shows mechanical robust superhydrophobicity throughout its whole volume and maintains excellent water repellency after exposure to highly corrosive liquids and organic solvents. Notably, the bulk material possesses photocatalytic self-cleaning functionality, which enables the elimination of the oily contaminations on the substrate surface, leading to the regeneration of its superhydrophobicity. The robust superhydrophobicity and functionality provide the developed bulk material potential applications in harsh chemical and oily environments where robustness is required.