Abstract
Corrosion seriously limits the long-term application of Q235 carbon steel. Herein, a simple fabrication method was used to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces on Q235 carbon steel for anticorrosion application. The combination of structure and the grafted low-surface-energy material contributed to the formation of superhydrophobic steel surfaces, which exhibited a water contact angle of 161.6° and a contact angle hysteresis of 0.8°. Meanwhile, the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface showed repellent toward different solutions with pH ranging from 1 to 14, presenting excellent chemical stability. Moreover, the acid corrosive liquid (HCl solution with pH of 1) maintained sphere-like shape on the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface at room temperature, indicating superior corrosion resistance. This work provides a simple method to fabricate superhydrophobic steel surfaces with chemical stability and corrosion resistance.
Highlights
Q235 carbon steel, medium-low strength steel with low-cost, has a large number of applications in industrial fields, especially in marine environment [1]
The polished Q235 carbon steel substrates were immersed into the Piranha solution to obtain the structured surface
The surface of Q235 carbon steel was chemically etched by Piranha solution to produce with microstructure and PFTEOS could graft onto the surface by covalent bonding with FeOOH
Summary
Q235 carbon steel, medium-low strength steel with low-cost, has a large number of applications in industrial fields, especially in marine environment [1]. Q235 carbon steel is prone to corrosion, especially in a neutral or acidic environment. The natural environment, including the atmosphere, water, and soil, is usually neutral or weakly acidic to induce serious corrosion of Q235 carbon steel [2,3]. Cathodic protection and anti-corrosion coatings are widely used to prevent corrosion. Anti-corrosion coatings could effectively isolate or inhibit the direct contact between the protected metals and the corrosive media by their shielding and resistance effect to slow the corrosion rate of the protected metal [4]. The strong repellent ability against water of the superhydrophobic surface can greatly reduce the contact area of corrosive liquid and the surface, and hinder the migration of corrosive ions to metal materials, leading to a decrease in the corrosion rate of materials [12].
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