Rational design of self-cleaning superhydrophobic coating with outstanding abrasion resistance and weatherability: Towards highly efficient oil-water separation and anti-corrosion application

The importance of superhydrophobic coating in modern industries cannot be overstated. However, conventional superhydrophobic coatings are challenged by poor mechanical stability, single functionality, and toxic content (fluorine element), which pose a challenge to the large-scale use of superhydrophobic coatings. Herein, a MOF-based superhydrophobic coating is proposed, which is constructed by introducing self-designed small-molecule resins combined with modified ZIF-8 particles through a one-step spraying method. Notably, the coating exhibits excellent superhydrophobicity (CA = 169.05°, SA = 3.7°), mechanical stability (CA > 155° after 200 cm of wear), high oil-water separation efficiencies (for oil-water mixture separation efficiency up to 98.57 %) and satisfactory anti-corrosion property. The superior performance of the coating comes from the layer-by-layer structure formed by the γ-AP resin-coated ZIF-8 particles after curing, which the silicone in the resin forms a dense cross-linked network on the surface of the coating. In summary, ZIF-8/HDTMS/γ-AP coating not only has the advantages of a simple preparation process, wide application range, and no secondary pollution but also has excellent mechanical properties, high oil-water separation efficiency, and satisfactory corrosion resistance, which can provide new ideas to expand the application scope of superhydrophobic coating.