Design of ‘tolerant and hard’ superhydrophobic coatings to freeze physical deformation

Abstract

While the development of mechanically durable and abrasion tolerant superhydrophobicity on a rigid substrates itself remains a highly challenging task, the design of superhydrophobic coatings that can restrict both the tensile and compressive deformations of soft and deformable substrates is unprecedented—and such an approach would be of potential interest in various applied and fundamental contexts. In this communication, a reaction mixture was developed following a simple 1,4-conjugate addition reaction between selected small molecules and appropriate crosslinkers for achieving ‘tolerant and hard’ superhydrophobicity—which is not just capable of surviving under severe conditions—but also restricts both the tensile and compressive deformations of the selected soft substrates. The compressive and tensile moduli of the selected soft substrates increased by 2.2 × 10⁴% and 1.8 × 10⁴%, respectively, after the deposition of the appropriate reaction mixtures. Moreover, the integration of the crosslinkers in the reaction mixture provided a facile basis to resist the physical erosion/rupture of the selected soft substrates under severe abrasive conditions. Thus, a simple and elegant chemical approach not only controlled the mechanical properties of the porous and fibrous soft substrates under ambient conditions—but also provided highly tolerant superhydrophobicity—which likely leads to various outdoor applications.