Research on superhydrophobicity, corrosion and adhesion properties of composite epoxy-based coating

Abstract Recently, improving the comprehensive performances of superhydrophobic coatings has attracted widespread attention, especially its anti-corrosion effects and bonding properties to low carbon steel. In this paper, the idea of introducing epoxy resin (EP) into superhydrophobic coating was proposed. Although the characteristics of the microstructure, 3D morphology, XRD and XPS suggested that EP had a certain effect on hydrophobic ability, the results of EIS showed that EP significantly improved the corrosion resistance of superhydrophobic coatings. Compared to the experiment group with a mass ratio of modified TiO2 to EP of 4:1, Rf and Rct of the experiment group with a mass ratio of modified TiO2 to EP of 4:6 increased by 6–7 orders of magnitude. An ion channel model and related mechanism were proposed to explain the differences in electrochemical behavior under different EP additions. Simultaneously, the new hydrophobic model was applicable to analyze the hydrophobic capacity of superhydrophobic coating covered by different amount of hydrophilic substances. Finally, the adhesion test showed that the adhesion of the experiment group with a mass ratio of modified TiO2 to EP of 4:6 reached more than 70% of pure EP. EP has significant effects on improving the overall performance of superhydrophobic coatings, which will promote its wide application in various fields.