Grass‐to‐stone surface inspired long‐term inhibiting scaling

Abstract

AbstractBionic self‐cleaning coatings have exhibited scaling inhibition for their low surface free energy. The key issue is focused on the long‐term anti‐scaling performance for the hydrophobicity failure after scaled. Inspired by “grass‐to‐stone” phenomenon, we reported a polymer coating (WCA = 120°, WSA = 14°) with the water contact angle of its 720 h‐scaled surface increased to 135°and scaling reduced by 90–95%. The nucleation and growth of CaCO3 at “coating‐crystal” interface are investigated, and a physical model for self‐healing film interface inhibiting scaling is innovatively proposed, as an important step toward designing long‐term anti‐scaling coating for engineering application.