Abstract:
In the past few decades, superhydrophobic surfaces have received extensive attention due to their special properties. However, in outdoor applications, most superhydrophobic surfaces easily lose their superhydrophobicity due to various factors in the environment. A simple two-step dip-coating method is used to prepare a strong and repairable superhydrophobic coating. In the first step, the coating’s bottom layer was prepared by mixing polysiloxane with absolute ethanol. For the second step, neutral silicone glass glue was mixed with silicon dioxide nanoparticles, micron attapulgite powder (ATP) and polysiloxane to create the coating’s upper layer. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle measuring instrument, and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to determine the microscopic morphology, wettability and molecular structure of the coating. Furthermore, the optimal amount of neutral silicone glass glue was specified while at the same time the coating’s self-healing ability was observed under mechanical abrasion and in an acid-based environment. The results show that the hydrophobicity of the coating reaches the optimum when the amount of neutral silicone glass glue is 1% and the water contact angle reaches 153.5°±1.5°. In this way, the coating is able to maintain a water contact angle of over 140° even when 360 cm of mechanical wear with a weight of 50 g (1.03 kPa) is placed on it. In addition, after the coating has endured a certain amount of mechanical abrasion and acid-base damage, the superhydrophobic properties of the coating can be repaired by high-temperature heating. The coating also provides a certain water resistance-stability and an excellent self-cleaning ability.