Superhydrophobic LDH/TTOS composite surface based on microstructure for the anti-corrosion, anti-fouling and oil-water separation application

Abstract

A two-step method was used to fabricate a superhydrophobic surface on steel sheet, nickel foam (NF), and stainless steel mesh (SS). The micro-nano structure of Layer Double Hydroxide (LDH) is obtained by hydrothermal method. The synergistic effect of triethoxy(octyl)silane (TTOS) and FeNi-LDH produces a superhydrophobic surface. Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used for structural characterization, which confirmed the synthesis and hydrophobic modification of FeNi-LDH. The time of the hydrothermal reaction was discussed, and the results showed that the water contact angle (WCA) of the superhydrophobic surface fabricated by setting the reaction time to 12 h can reach 169 ± 2°. Electrochemical tests also show that the prepared superhydrophobic surface can achieve a corrosion inhibition rate of 96.3%. In addition, the superhydrophobic NF and superhydrophobic SS prepared by the same method were tested for antifouling and oil-water separation performance. The results show that, due to the excellent non-wettability of the surface, the preparation method of this superhydrophobic surface has great potential value in the fields of anti-corrosion, anti-fouling and oil-water separation.