A Mechanically and Chemically Stable Superhydrophobic Coating for Preventing Marine Atmospheric Corrosion

Abstract The poor mechanical stability and superhydrophobic durability of superhydrophobic surface limit its practical application. In this study, a mechanically and chemically stable superhydrophobic coating was fabricated by randomly anchoring the hydrophobic and wear-resistant silica particles bonded to graphene by dopamine on the fluorocarbon surface with a micro-/nano- robust structure, which has the longest corrosion protection performance in the marine atmospheric environment. As the wear resistance enhanced due to the addition of SiO2, the as-prepared coating exhibits an excellent mechanical durability, especially the coating can withstand 4000 cm abrasion of 800 mesh sandpaper under a pressure of 2.49 kPa. Moreover, the fabricated coating maintains good chemical stability in 3.5 wt.% NaCl and ultraviolet stability for over 100 days. Under the barrier influence of trapped air films and the labyrinth effect of graphene, the corrosion protection property of the superhydrophobic coating remains almost unchanged in marine atmosphere after 160 days of experiments which is the longest lifetime reported so far. This abrasion-resistant and UV-stable superhydrophobic coating reveals extraordinary capability for application in marine atmospheric corrosion protection.