Preparation And Property Of Self-healing Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted tremendous attention for a wide range of technological applications from self-cleaning surfaces to anti-fouling,anti-icing,anti-corrosion surfaces and so forth.Nevertheless,it is still a major challenge to resolve the durability of the superhydrophobic surfaces for practical applications.Endowing artificial superhydrophobic surfaces with self-healing ability is believed to provide an efficient way to extend the lifespan of the coating.Based on the two requisite conditions of superhydrophobic surfaces,self-healing superhydrophobic surfaces were respectively fabricated by migration of lowsurface-energy material and reconstruction of micro-/nanostructures.(1)Utilizing self-organization property of octadecylamine(ODA),superhydrophobic PET fabrics were prepared by a convenient solution-dipping method using an easily available material system consisting of polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)and ODA.The morphology of the fabrics was characterized by scanning electron microscopy.The self-healing ability of the superhydrophobicity was investigated by air plasma etching of the coating and wettability evaluation.Stability tests of the superhydrophobic surfaces were also conducted.Studies showed that the superhydrophobicity of the as-fabricated coating possessed remarkable durability against different pH solutions and exhibited excellent resistance to repeated machine washing or severe abrasion damaging.Moreover,the superhydrophobicity of the coating showed remarkable self-healing ability against both chemical and physical damages.(2)Hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles(HMSNs)were prepared by a sacrificial hard template of polystyrene particles and used as reservoirs to load dodecyltrimethoxysilane(DDTMS).Then superhydrophobic surfaces were prepared by successively spray coating HMSNs loaded with DDTMS as particle stacking structure and PDMS as hydrophobic interconnection.Results revealed that the surfaces could maintain superhydrophobicity upon cycles of abrasion due to the fact that new roughening structures that are caused by the cavity of the HMSNs would be exposed,thus maintaining suitable hierarchical roughness and favoring the superhydrphobic property of the coating.In summary,self-healing ability of the superhydrophobic surfaces was respectively realised by migration of PDMS/ODA molucules or reconstruction of micro-/nanostructures upon mechanical abrasion.It is anticipated that the introduction of self-healing function into superhydrophobic coatings will open a new avenue to extend the lifespan of superhydrophobic surfaces for practical applications.