Superhydrophobic and mechanically robust polysiloxane composite coatings containing modified silica nanoparticles and PS-grafted halloysite nanotubes

Excellent mechanical properties are the prerequisite for the application of superhydrophobic polymer coat-ings. However, significantly improving the mechanical properties without affecting other properties such as hydrophobicity is a huge challenge. In this study, a superhydrophobic coating with excellent mechanical properties was prepared by spraying a mixture of polysiloxane resins based on three siloxane monomers, hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS) modified nano-SiO2 particles (SiO2-HDTMS) and polystyrene-grafted halloysite nanotubes (HNTs-PS). SiO2-HDTMS dispersed homogeneously in polysiloxane coatings and the water contact angle of corresponding coating exceeding 150 degrees, achieving superhydrophobicity. The SiO2- HDTMS/HNTs-PS/polysiloxane composite coatings showed excellent abrasion resistance with the water coating contact angle remaining above 150 degrees after 90 abrasion cycles, indicating that HNTs-PS can signifi-cantly improve the mechanical properties of the coating without affecting the hydrophobic properties of the coating. The achieved coating also exhibited excellent antifouling and acid and alkali corrosion resis-tance. This work provides a convenient and ecologically friendly method to prepare superhydrophobic polysiloxane composite coating with excellent mechanical properties, which is promising in the application of anti-fouling, anti-corrosion, and oil-water separation etc.(c) 2021 The Chemical Industry and Engineering Society of China, and Chemical Industry Press Co., Ltd.

Automated summary

This study successfully prepared a superhydrophobic coating with excellent mechanical properties. By dispersing SiO2-HDTMS and HNTs-PS uniformly in the polysiloxane coating, the coating achieved superhydrophobicity while maintaining excellent abrasion resistance and antifouling, acid and alkali corrosion resistance.