Durable superamphiphobic coatings from one-step electrostatic dusting

Hexakis[p-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy]cyclotriphosphazene as an Environmentally Friendly Modifier for Polyurethane Powder Coatings with Increased Thermal Stability and Corrosion Resistance

Protection against fire and the corrosion of metals is necessary to ensure human safety. Most of the fire and corrosion inhibitors do not meet the ecological requirements. Therefore, effective and ecological methods of protecting metals are currently a challenge for researchers. In this work, the influence of hexakis(4-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy)cyclotriphosphazene (HHPCP) on the characteristics of powder coatings was examined. The coatings' properties were investigated by measuring the roughness, hardness, adhesion to the steel surface, cupping, gloss, scratch resistance, and water contact angle. The thermal stability was studied by furnace test and TGA analysis. The corrosion resistance test was carried out in a 3.5% NaCl solution. The distribution of phosphazene-derived segments in the coating was examined by GD-EOS analysis. Modified coatings show better corrosion and thermal resistance and can be used for the protection of the steel surface. Their better corrosion resistance is due to the electroactive properties of the phosphazene ring and its higher concentration at the coating surface, confirmed by GD-EOS analysis. The increase in thermal resistance is due to the effect of the formation of phosphoric metaphosphoric and polyphosphoric acids during the decomposition of HHCPC, which remain in the condensed char phase and play a crucial role in surface protection.

Nanomaterials and their applications on bio-inspired wearable electronics

Wearable electronics featuring conformal attachment, sensitive perception and intellectual signal processing have made significant progress in recent years. However, when compared with living organisms, artificial sensory devices showed undeniable bulky shape, poor adaptability, and large energy consumption. To make up for the deficiencies, biological examples provide inspirations of novel designs and practical applications. In the field of biomimetics, nanomaterials from nanoparticles to layered two-dimensional materials are actively involved due to their outstanding physicochemical properties and nanoscale configurability. This review focuses on nanomaterials related to wearable electronics through bioinspired approaches on three different levels, interfacial packaging, sensory structure, and signal processing, which comprehensively guided recent progress of wearable devices in leveraging both nanomaterial superiorities and biorealistic functionalities. In addition, opinions on potential development trend are proposed aiming at implementing bioinspired electronics in multifunctional portable sensors, health monitoring, and intelligent prosthetics.

Recent Progresses of Superhydrophobic Coatings in Different Application Fields: An Overview

With the development of material engineering and coating industries, superhydrophobic coatings with exceptional water repellence have increasingly come into researchers’ horizons. The superhydrophobic coatings with corrosion resistance, self-cleaning, anti-fogging, drag-reduction, anti-icing properties, etc., meet the featured requirements from different application fields. In addition, endowing superhydrophobic coatings with essential performance conformities, such as transparency, UV resistance, anti-reflection, water-penetration resistance, thermal insulation, flame retardancy, etc. plays a remarkable role in broadening their application scope. Various superhydrophobic coatings were fabricated by diverse technologies resulting from the fundamental demands of different fields. Most past reviews, however, provided only limited information, and lacked detailed classification and presentation on the application of superhydrophobic coatings in different sectors. In the current review, we will highlight the recent progresses on superhydrophobic coatings in automobile, marine, aircraft, solar energy and architecture-buildings fields, and discuss the requirement of prominent functionalities and performance conformities in these vital fields. Poor durability of superhydrophobic coating remains a practical challenge that needs to be addressed through real-world application. This review serves as a good reference source and provides insight into the design and optimization of superhydrophobic coatings for different applications.

Superhydrophobic, superamphiphobic and SLIPS materials as anti-corrosion and anti-biofouling barriers

Multifunctional interfacial materials with special wettability including superhydrophobic, superamphiphobic, and SLIPS exhibited promising potentials for corrosion and biofouling resistance.

Fabrication of a waterborne, superhydrophobic, self-cleaning, highly transparent and stable surface

Superhydrophobic surfaces have received tremendous attention worldwide. However, the synthesis of a superhydrophobic surface possessing two paradoxical characteristic properties - stability and transparency, is a vital aspect that has been addressed in this paper. The surface was fabricated by an environmentally friendly process, which used distilled water for the dissolution of SiO2 nanoparticles in the presence of surfactants, instead of organic solvents. Moreover, the surface was transparent and had self-cleaning properties and stability. The optimal balance of roughness and multi-porous structure imparted excellent transparency to this surface. Importantly, both the conformal coating and the SiO2 nanoparticles embedded in the half solidified conformal coating contributed to the excellent stability, thus overcoming the paradox. The surface could withstand a temperature of 150 °C for 24 h and also different temperature regimes between 0-200 °C for 2 h. In addition, this surface could resist repeated scratches and abrasion as well as strong acids and alkali. The surface achieved its self-cleaning ability due to the introduction of surfactants containing the F element. This simple but novel strategy and surface have the advantages of high safety, low cost and environmental-friendliness.