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. 2025 Jul 7;15(29):23342-23350.
doi: 10.1039/d5ra02098k. eCollection 2025 Jul 4.

Preparation of a robust hierarchical superhydrophobic surface with superior corrosion resistance

Mengqing Li  1   2 , LiangJun Song  2 , Yu Zheng  2 , Nuoran Liu  2 , Huizhu Yu  2 , Rencheng Jin  2 , Tengfei Xiang  3 , Ruiqian Li  2
Affiliations

Preparation of a robust hierarchical superhydrophobic surface with superior corrosion resistance

Mengqing Li et al. RSC Adv. .

Abstract

The design and facile fabrication of a hierarchical superhydrophobic surface with robust stability is the key for industrialization of superhydrophobic materials. Herein, a robust hierarchical superhydrophobic Zn coating (EAE-Zn) with armor-like structure was fabricated by two-step electrodeposition accompanied with an indispensable intermediate activation. The results showed that the activation treatment was favorable for the formation and growth of nano-flakes on the side surfaces of vertically aligned micro-flakes. Notably, the armor-like EAE-Zn coating still sustained its water repellency even after suffering from sandpaper abrasion, tape peeling, water drop impact and long-term immersion in salt solution, indicating that the vertically aligned micro-plates acting as "armor" could prevent effectively the abrasion of the fragile nano-structures. Besides, the superior non-wettability and impermeability endowed the EAE-Zn coating with long-term corrosion resistance ability. Therefore, these findings offer a novel strategy to design a hierarchical superhydrophobic surface with robust stability and superior corrosion resistance.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. The SEM images of E-Zn (a and a′), EE-Zn (b and b′) and EAE-Zn (c and c′) coatings.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. (a) The FTIR spectra of stearic acid, E-Zn, EE-Zn and EAE-Zn coatings; (b) the XRD patterns of E-Zn, EE-Zn and EAE-Zn coatings.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. The electrodeposition schematics of E-Zn, EE-Zn and EAE-Zn coatings.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. The water contact angle of E-Zn, EE-Zn and EAE-Zn coatings (a); the water contact angle of EAE-Zn coating toward different droplets (b); the dragging test of water droplets on the surface of superhydrophobic EAE-Zn coating (c).
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. The chemical stability tests of EAE-Zn coating under different harsh environment: different pH value (a) and different immersion time in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution (b).
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. The mechanical stability tests of EAE-Zn coating under different harsh environment: water drop impact test (a), the tape peeling test (b), sandpaper abrasion test (c) and diagram before and after abrasion (d).
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. The Tafel curves (a) and the corrosion potential and corrosion current density (b) of E-Zn, EE-Zn and EAE-Zn coatings in 3.5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8. Nyquist plots (a) Bode plots of negative phase angle vs. frequency (b), Bode plots of |Z| value vs. frequency (c) and the equivalent circuit model (d) of E-Zn, EE-Zn and EAE-Zn coatings in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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