Abstract:
The strong hydrophobicity and water repellency of superhydrophobic coatings enable their wide application in metal corrosion protection, building protection, and environmental remediation. A stable rough surface structure is essential for maintaining their superhydrophobic performance. In this study, a water-in-oil emulsion templating method was used to fabricate porous PDMS-based superhydrophobic coatings. The results indicate that the appropriate regulation of the water-to-oil ratio, emulsifier system (TX-100 and Brij S20), and polyethylene (PE) content enables the formation of a porous coating with relatively uniform pore size distribution and structural stability. The introduction of fluorinated silica (F-SiO
2) nanoparticles further constructs a micro-/nano-hierarchical rough surface, resulting in excellent superhydrophobicity. The strongest hydrophobicity is obtained when the ratios of the aqueous phase, Brij S20, PE, and F-SiO
2 to PDMS are 12∶10, 0.75∶10, 2∶10, and 1∶10, respectively. Its water contact angle (CA) exceeds 160° and rolling angle (RA) is below 2.5°, while the pore wall area fraction of this system is over 66%. Moreover, the coating possesses good mechanical strength and abrasion resistance, maintaining excellent superhydrophobicity (CA > 160°, RA < 3°) even after abrasion with 320-mesh sandpaper. This study systematically reveals the synergistic regulation mechanism between pore structure and interfacial roughness based on the PDMS emulsion template, providing a new strategy for the controlled fabrication of PDMS porous structures and the design of highly stable PDMS-based superhydrophobic coatings.