Pinene-Functionalized Polysiloxane as an Excellent Self-Healing Superhydrophobic Polymer

Superhydrophobic surfaces have drawn worldwide attention because they can be used in diverse fields. However, many of them may not be able to be used in real life applications because of their poor durability and short life span. Self-healing is a good strategy to increase the resilience and life span of a superhydrophobic surface. In this work, a facile and low-cost method to fabricate the durable, environmental-friendly, and self-healing superhydrophobic material is proposed. Attributing to the low surface energy and superficial hierarchical nanostructure, this fluorine-free polymer synthesized from commercial silicone oil and renewable beta-pinene exhibits excellent water-repellency (with contact angle of 170 +/- 3 degrees and sliding angle near 0 degrees), which has potential application in oil-water separation. Furthermore, the as-prepared superhydrophobic material also possesses great stretchability and simultaneously hydrophobic/mechanical self-healing capability after withstanding repeatable scratches and abrasions. The new self-healing superhydrophobic polymer is robust, environmentally benign, sustainable, and easy to fabricate, showing promising applications in various industries.