Inexpensive and non-fluorinated superhydrophobic concrete coating for anti-icing and anti-corrosion

Jinlong Song; Yuxiang Li; Wei Xu; Hong Liu; Yao Lu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.01.014

Inexpensive and non-fluorinated superhydrophobic concrete coating for anti-icing and anti-corrosion

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2019 Apr 1:541:86-92. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.01.014. Epub 2019 Jan 6.

Authors

Jinlong Song¹, Yuxiang Li², Wei Xu³, Hong Liu⁴, Yao Lu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-traditional Machining Technology of the Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Major Machine Manufacturing in Liaoning, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
² Key Laboratory for Precision and Non-traditional Machining Technology of the Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
³ School of Mechanics and Civil Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), 100083, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry of Environment Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: hongliu@m.scnu.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, UK. Electronic address: yao.lu@ucl.ac.uk.

PMID: 30684753
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.01.014

Abstract

Reinforced concrete is widely used in civil engineering due to its outstanding mechanical properties and low cost. However, icing and corrosion on concrete-based facilities such as roads, dams, and bridges often cause safety issues. Superhydrophobic surface with completely water-repellent properties that are inspired by the lotus leaf in nature, has great potential to solve this problem, however, most state-of-the-art and commercial superhydrophobic coatings are expensive and weak in mechanical robustness for large-scale application on concrete. Here, we developed an inexpensive, non-fluorinated, and robust superhydrophobic concrete (S-concrete) coating with a contact angle of 160 ± 1° and sliding angle of 6.5 ± 0.5°. This coating had a high surface mechanical strength and retained superhydrophobicity after blade scratch for several times or sandpaper abrasion for 20 m distance. The robust S-concrete coating also had a good anti-icing ability, a low deicing force, and a high corrosion resistance, which is expected to be applied on roads, buildings, bridges, and many other concrete-based facilities in large scale for anti-icing and anti-corrosion purposes.

Keywords: Concrete coating; Mechanical strength; Superhydrophobic.