A corrosion-resistance superhydrophobic TiO2 film

A superhydrophobic TiO2 film with water contact angle greater than 170 degrees on Hastelloy substrate was fabricated through simply dip-coating method from TiO2 precursor solution containing TiO2 nanoparticles with the average diameter 25 nm, followed by heat-treatment and modification with fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) molecules. The as-obtained sample was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and water contact angle measurement respectively. Moreover, the dynamic light scattering (DLS) size distribution of TiO2 aggregated particles in the TiO2 precursor solution containing P25 particles was evaluated by Laser Particle Sizer. It is found that the TiO2 nanoparticles in TiO2 precursor solution play a crucial role to form high superhydrophobicity. Simultaneously, the superhydrophobic TiO2 film still showed great superhydrophobicity after corroded with strong acid or alkali solutions and protected the substrate from corrosion which should be critical to the potential application in industry. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.