High corrosion protection performance of a novel nonfluorinated biomimetic superhydrophobic Zn-Fe coating with echinopsismultiplex-like structure

A simple, low-cost, fluorine-free, and ecofriendly method was applied to prepare a novel superhydrophobic Zn–Fe alloy coating on the surface of carbon steel. First of all, the Zn–Fe coating was obtained in an alkaline glycerol non-cyanide Zn–Fe plating solution. Then tetradecanoic acid was grafted onto the Zn–Fe coating by a coordination reaction, leading to a superhydrophobic surface. The water contact angle was up to 166° and the sliding angle was 4°. The as-prepared superhydrophobic coating exhibited high performances, such as strong adhesion to the substrate, impact resistance, self-cleaning, antifouling, and anticorrosion. Importantly, until now, few reports focus on the use of a non-cyanide alkaline glycerol plating bath for electrodeposition, which is green, composition-stable, and corrosion-free for devices. In addition, the growth mechanism of the Echinopsis multiplex-like hierarchical micro/nanostructure of the superhydrophobic surface was studied in detail.