Superhydrophobic coatings based on bionic mineralization for improving the durability of marine concrete

Designing a stable superhydrophobic surface has been a current research focus. A functional bionic mineralized layer is introduced into the coating system to enhance the applicability. In the process of bionic mineralization induced by dopamine, silver ions were in situ reduced to nanosilver by dopamine in the interstices of mineralization products, forming a micro-nano composite structure by the mineralized grains and nanosilver microspheres. Then the superhydrophobic (CA = 153°) antibacterial coating was obtained by silane modification. The characterization of the coating shows that it can significantly improve the antibacterial effect, the mineralization layer and the silane molecular network can delay nanosilver loss. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic coating has extreme stability and its wettability hardly changes under abrasion, biological environment and freeze–thaw conditions, obtaining higher superhydrophobic, antibacterial and anti-icing performance. Considering the above properties, this novel superhydrophobic coating is anticipated to be a promising protective material which solves the corrosion, biofouling and freeze–thaw problems confronting marine concrete.