Scalable Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Coating with Rough Coral Reef‐Like Structures for Efficient Self‐Cleaning and Oil‐Water Separation: An Experimental and Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

作者：Huidong Cai, Chongxiong Duan, Mingli Fu, Jin Zhang, Haomin Huang, Yun Hu, Jie Shi, Daiqi Ye · 发表于：Small · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1002/smll.202207118 · 被引用次数：79 · 研究领域：Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity、Aerogels and thermal insulation、Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials

Abstract Superhydrophobic coating has a great application prospect in self‐cleaning and oil‐water separation but remains challenging for large‐scale preparation of robust and weather‐resistant superhydrophobic coatings via facile approaches. Herein, this work reports a scalable fabrication of weather‐resistant superhydrophobic coating with multiscale rough coral reef‐like structures by spraying the suspension containing superhydrophobic silica nanoparticles and industrial coating varnish on various substrates. The coral reef‐like structures effectively improves the surface roughness and abrasion resistance. Rapid aging experiments (3000 h) and the outdoor building project application (3000 m 2 ) show that the sprayed superhydrophobic coating exhibits excellent self‐cleaning properties, weather resistance, and environmental adaptability. Moreover, the combined silica‐coating varnish‐polyurethane (CSCP) superhydrophobic sponge exhibits exceptional oil‐water separation capabilities, selectively absorbing the oils from water up to 39 times of its own weight. Furthermore, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation reveals that the combined effect of higher surface roughness, smaller diffusion coefficient of water molecules, and weaker electrostatic interactions between water and the surface jointly determines the superhydrophobicity of the prepared coating. This work deepens the understanding of the anti‐wetting mechanism of superhydrophobic surfaces from the perspective of energetic ...