Superhydrophobic coatings fabricated with polytetrafluoroethylene and SiO2 nanoparticles by spraying process on carbon steel surfaces

Superhydrophobicity is extensively investigated because of the numerous methods developed for water-repellant interface fabrication. Many suitable functional materials for the production of superhydrophobic surfaces on various substrates are still being explored. In this study, inorganic SiO 2 and organic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanoparticles (NPs) are used for a comparative study on the performance of superhydrophobic coating on carbon steel surfaces. The NPs are added to PTFE coating emulsions by physical blending to form coating mixtures. Raw SiO 2 NPs are then hydrophobized using KH-570 and validated by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Dynamic Laser Scattering (DLS) grain size analyses. The microstructures of the surfaces are characterized by contact angle (CA) measurements and field emission-scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images. The prepared surfaces are subjected to adhesion, hardness, water resistance, and acid/alkali erosion tests. Hydrophobized SiO 2 -filled coating surfaces are found to have better uniformity than raw SiO 2 regardless of their similar maximum static contact angles (SCAs) about 150°. A SCA of 163.1° is obtained on the PTFE NP-filled coating surfaces that have a considerably denser structure than SiO 2 . Thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses reveal that all fabricated surfaces have good thermal stability and tolerate temperatures up to 550   °C. The PTFE NP-filled coating surfaces also exhibit excellent water and acid resistance. A possible mechanism concerning the amount of trapped air is proposed in relation to practical superhydrophobic surface fabrication.