Biomimetic multi-functional superhydrophobic stainless steel and copper meshes for water environment applications†
Abstract
Facile preparation of mechanically durable superhydrophobic materials is indispensable, however, there is an extensive list of requirements that are needed before the materials can have a broad range of applications in water environments. Limited durability, tedious chemical treatments, and complicated multi-step processing procedures have further constrained the practical applications of superhydrophobic materials. Herein, robust superhydrophobic stainless steel and copper meshes were fabricated through a one-step solution immersion method and endowed with remarkable multi-functions. The surface morphology, chemical composition and wettability of the as-fabricated superhydrophobic meshes were characterized. The as-prepared superhydrophobic meshes exhibited outstanding performances pertaining to water proofing, mechanical durability, self-cleaning and anti-fouling properties. More significantly, the superhydrophobic meshes possessed good oil–water separation, ice delay and icephobicity performances, and excellent anti-corrosion protective abilities. The experimental results indicated that the separation efficiencies of both the as-prepared superhydrophobic meshes for the oil–water mixtures were above 98%, and the water freezing times on the superhydrophobic meshes were delayed by more than twice those of the untreated meshes. In addition, the increase in the corrosion potential (Ecorr) and decrease in the corrosion current (Icorr) implied that the as-prepared superhydrophobic meshes have better corrosion resistance than the bare meshes. All of the attained functions above may promise potential application of these materials in practical water environments.