Ultra-robust superhydrophobic coatings via dual-enhancement of polymeric skeleton

Developing scalable and durable superhydrophobic (SH) coatings in harsh rainy/icy/abrading environments is attractive for various applications, yet has proven challenging. Here we report an ultra-robust SH coating via physical bonding and chemical crosslinking of polystyrene microspheres (PS MPs). The facile preparation includes co-spray of PS MPs and perfluorinated nanoparticles, hot-press and thermal evaporation. The 3D interconnected polymeric network is enhanced due to the semidissolving-based bonding and Friedel-Crafts reaction-based chemical crosslinking of PS MPs. Compared with the pristine SH coatings, the durability of our SH coating is increased by 2230%, 340% and 1440% through bidirectional abrasion, water impact and freeze-thaw tests, respectively. Both the facile fabrication and the great durability highlight their applications in anti-icing, anti-corrosion, self-cleaning, etc. Our strategy provides a generic design for multifunctional engineering durable coatings based on polymeric network.