Hierarchically rough, mechanically durable and superhydrophobic epoxy coatings through rapid evaporation spray method

A mechanically durable and scalable superhydrophobic coating was fabricated by combining the advantages of both bottom-up and top-down approaches into a one-pot, one-step application method. This is achieved by spray coating a solution consisting of silica nanoparticles, which are embedded within ep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Thin solid films 2015-08, Vol.589, p.472-478
Main Authors: Simovich, Tomer, Wu, Alex H., Lamb, Robert N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coatings
Contact angle
Droplets
Durability
Durable
Epoxy
Evaporation
Flash-hardening
Hardness
Nanoparticles
Nanostructure
Solvents
Superhydrophobic coating
Thin films
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Summary:A mechanically durable and scalable superhydrophobic coating was fabricated by combining the advantages of both bottom-up and top-down approaches into a one-pot, one-step application method. This is achieved by spray coating a solution consisting of silica nanoparticles, which are embedded within epoxy resin, onto a heated substrate to rapidly drive both solvent evaporation and curing simultaneously. By maintaining a high substrate temperature, the arrival of spray-delivered micrometer-sized droplets are rapidly cured onto the substrate to form surface microroughness, while simultaneously, rapid solvent evaporation within each droplet results in the formation of a nanoporous structure. SEM, dual-beam FIB, and cross-sectional TEM/EDAX elemental mapping were used to confirm both the chemistry and the requisite micro- and nano-porosity within the coating structure requisite for superhydrophobicity. The resultant coatings exhibit contact angles greater than 150° (153.8°±0.8°) and roll-off angles of 8°±2°, with a coating hardness of 6H on the pencil hardness scale, and a rating of 5 on an ASTM crosshatch test. [Display omitted] •A highly superhydrophobic coating was fabricated utilizing epoxy and nanoparticles.•The coating was demonstrated to be very durable and abrasion resistant.•The fabrication involves a novel, scalable one-pot synthesis technique.
ISSN:0040-6090
1879-2731
DOI:10.1016/j.tsf.2015.05.065