Fabrication of durable and roughness-regeneration superhydrophobic composite materials by hot pressing

The practical applications of superhydrophobic materials are still limited due to the fragile micro-nano scale rough structures. Here a novel preparation method based on a new roughness-regeneration model is reported to fabricate durable and non-fluorinated superhydrophobic materials, through combining organosilicon functionalized Al2O3 (SiF-Al2O3) microparticles and low-cost bakelite powder (solid-resin). The effect of the blend ratio of SiF-Al2O3/solid-resin on superhydrophobic properties of composite material was investigated in this paper. The material surface can retain superhydrophobicity after a series of rigorous durability testing, such as broken area test, sandstorm test, sandpaper abrasion test, knife scratch test and cold-resistant test. Even if the fine sandpaper (5000 Cw) is applied, a higher surface roughness can still be maintained (S-a = 2.1 mu m) and the superhydrophobicity (WCA = 151 degrees) of the surface is reserved.