Superamphiphobic ridge-like surfaces produced by a layer-by-layer self-assembly under electrophoretic deposition of fluorinated nanoparticles for comprehensive protection

Abstract

Superamphiphobic surfaces possess a great repellency for both polar and nonpolar liquids, and have attracted tremendous interest from academic research and practical applications owing to their potential for self-cleaning and anti-fouling. However, the existing technologies for the preparation of superamphiphobic surfaces, including spraying, dip-coating, etching, and chemical vapor deposition, are difficult to deal with the surface treatment of irregularly shaped components. And the relatively complicated and time-consuming processes drastically limit the large-scale production and industrialization. Herein, electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is highlighted for the fast modification of metal sheets by embedding silica nanoparticles in an epoxy matrix to prepare highly stable coatings. Firstly, the epoxy resin and silica nanoparticles are deposited under an applied electrical field to form a thin polymer layer for pre-roughening. Next, the functionalized nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed on the polymer layers to generate the superamphiphobic surfaces with a ridge-like structure through the layer-by-layer self-assembly under EPD conditions. The as-prepared superamphiphobic surfaces exhibit super liquid-repellency to various low-surface-tension liquids and considerable anti-condensation performance. Moreover, they are durable against comprehensive chemical contamination, such as oil immersion, and acid/alkali erosion, and resist corrosion after immersion in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution for more than 70 days. These findings demonstrate a new strategy of using EPD to fabricate durable superamphiphobic coatings for comprehensive protection of metal surfaces to endure harsh chemical environments in operation.