Preparation of stable superamphiphobic surfaces on X80 pipeline steel substrates

Abstract

This paper provides a simple, high efficiency and low-cost approach for the preparation of superamphiphobic surfacea on X80 pipeline steel substrates. The whole process included three simple steps: first, the metallic copper was electrochemically deposited onto the surface of X80 pipeline steel substrates under hot alkaline conditions to obtain a layer of the bi-material interface structure. Second, the treated surface was further immersed in ammonia solution at a particular temperature in order to fabricate hierarchical structure to increase the surface roughness. Finally, to reduce the surface energy of the fabricated structures, the surfaces were subsequently chemically modified with 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluoro-decyl-triethoxysilane. After treatment using the optimum parameters, the as-prepared surfaces exhibited repellency toward distilled water, glycerol, ethylene glycol, and olive oil with contact angles at 163°, 157°, 155° and 152°, respectively, the corresponding sliding angles are all within 10°, which can be attributed to the combination of micro/nano rough reentrant and hierarchical laminated structures with low surface energy modification. Furthermore, in an attempt to improve the superamphiphobic properties of the surface, the thermal stability, long-term stability and mechanical stability of the fabricated nanostructure film surface were examined using a UV light test, immersion test, temperature test and abrasion test, which show that the created superamphiphobic surfaces possess excellent stability under harsh conditions. The developed approach presented might provide a facile, low-cost and scalable route toward the preparation of novel films on metal substrates for various industrial applications, and a high potential for large-scale applications of pipeline steel.