Robust micro-nanoscale flowerlike ZnO/epoxy resin superhydrophobic coating with rapid healing ability

Abstract

The development of fabrication techniques for superhydrophobic coatings is rapidly maturing, yet the problem of low mechanical durability still persists. To address this problem, we introduce a robust micro-nanoscale flowerlike ZnO/epoxy resin superhydrophobic coating possessing a rapid healing ability after ultra-abrasion. The coating was fabricated by a simple immersion method, and it presented a water contact angle above 150° and a sliding angle of less than 2°. A simple abrasion test (2400 linear abrasion times at a pressure of 5kPa) was conducted to show that the coating could maintain superhydrophobicity, even after undergoing thirty abrasion times. Meanwhile, it could be easily repaired within one minute of the coating losing superhydrophobicity under ultra-abrasion. The abrasion only impacted the thickness of the rough structure (grown on the coating surface by immersion) and had almost no effect on the original thickness of the coating itself. This coating had an extremely long service life and may be useful for a wide range of applications.