Preparation and Properties of a Wear-Resistant Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Resin Superhydrophobic Surface

Super-hydrophobic surface plays an important role in self-cleaning, oil-water separation, anti-icing and other fields because of its special wetting properties. However, the superhydrophobic surface is easily damaged by external load during use, which affects the performance. In this study, carbon fiber prepreg is used as substrate, PTFE nanoparticles are used as hydrophobic substance, and metal screen is used as template. Combined with hot pressing process, PTFE nanoparticles were piled and pressed on the surface of prepreg to form the super-hydrophobic surface of carbon fiber/epoxy resin composite with multi-stage micro-nano structure.The prepared surface shows excellent hydrophobicity and mechanical stability. Especially under the pressing of metal screen and the adhesion of epoxy resin, PTFE nanoparticles are piled up into mirror image structure of the screen. The multi-stage combined structure obviously improves the wear resistance of the surface. Even if the microstructure is damaged, the particles filled in the epoxy resin will be exposed to form a new hierarchical structure, so that the surface energy will remain hydrophobic for a long time until the whole microstructure is completely ground. This preparation method is fast and efficient, and the prepared surface has stable performance, which expands the application scene and scope of super-hydrophobic surface.