Facile synthesis of superhydrophobic coating with icing delay ability by the self-assembly of PVDF clusters

Abstract

Development of superhydrophobic coatings is restricted by –their poor durability and complicated preparation process. Herein, we prepared a simple and efficient protocol to synthesize a superhydrophobic coating with excellent mechanical properties and durability for large-scale application. Initially, the free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA), glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and heptadecafluorodecyl acrylate (HFA) were carried out to prepare polymer PGMH. PGMH was then mixed with poly(vinylidene) fluoride (PVDF) to finally form the PGMH-PVDF superhydrophobic coatings. During solvent vapor annealing, fluoroalkyl groups and PVDF clusters tended to migrate to solid-gas interface and enriched the coating surface. The self-assembly behavior of PVDF clusters was attributed to good compatibility of PVDF clusters with HFA segments in blending system. In addition, MMA and GMA segments in PGMH deposited at the bottom to provide mechanical strength and substrates adhesion. Besides, the prepared superhydrophobic coatings demonstrated outstanding abrasion resistance for up to 100 sandpaper abrasion. In addition, the superhydrophobic coatings also exhibited exceptional chemical stability and self-cleaning property. The static anti-icing characterizations confirmed that the PGMH-PVDF films possessed good icing-delaying ability. Therefore, the superhydrophobic coatings would have tremendous potential applications in the field of waterproof, self-cleaning, and anti-icing surfaces.