Sprayable superhydrophobic coating with high processibility and rapid damage-healing nature

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2020-07, Vol.392, p.124834, Article 124834
• Main Authors: Cao, Chunyan, Yi, Bo, Zhang, Jianqiang, Hou, Changshun, Wang, Zhaoyue, Lu, Gang, Huang, Xin, Yao, Xi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Damage-healing property; High processibility; Liquid transportation; Mechanical robustness; Superhydrophobic
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2020.124834

We prepared an effective silicone-based paint which enabled superhydrophobic coating for the first time with high substrate binding, mechanical robustness and damagehealing property. They can repeatedly heal topographical defects by simple thermal treatment due to the dynamic intermolecular crosslinking of the supramolecular polymers. [Display omitted] •The superhydrophobic coating has high substrate binding.•The coating can resist mechanical damage without losing superhydrophobicity.•Dynamic chemical bonds provide fast mehcnaical/chemical damage-healing property.•The coating demonstrates high processibilty for directional water transportation. Superhydrophobic coatings simultaneously exhibiting high substrate binding, mechanical robustness and damage-healing properties are of great significance for practical applications. In this work, an effective silicone-based paint was developed to prepare superhydrophobic coating for the first time with the abovementioned properties. The paint is formulated with supramolecular silicone polymers and silica nanoparticles, which can be sprayed on solid substrates and assembled into porous films with enhanced water repellency. The abundant hydrogen bonds and coordination bonds in the supramolecular silicone polymers provided additional substrate binding and damage-healing properties. The coating can maintain water-repellency upon a series of tests including tape peeling, sandpaper abrasion and underwater placement. They can repeatedly heal chemical and topographical defects by simple thermal treatment due to the dynamic intermolecular crosslinking and chemical reorganization of the supramolecular polymers. Taking advantages of their high processibilty, multifaceted robustness and inherent healing ability, the developed superhydrophobic coatings hold great promise for applications in liquid transportation, oil-water separation, anti-icing and drag reduction.