Fabrication of a silane-modified superhydrophobic TiO2–PVDF–FEP coating with scale inhibition performance

• Published in: Frontiers of materials science Vol. 18; no. 4
• Main Authors: Qian, Huijuan, Lu, Congying, Huang, Jin, Luo, Zhonggui, Wang, Haifeng, Hou, Zhifeng, Wang, Chao, Li, Limin, Gao, Qinghe, Zhu, Mingliang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Higher Education Press 01.12.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Calcium carbonate; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coating effects; Hydrophobicity; Materials Science; Polyvinylidene fluorides; Propylene; Research Article; Silanes; Solution blending; Synergistic effect; Titanium dioxide; scale inhibition; poly(vinylidene fluoride); silane modification; TiO; whisker; superhydrophobic coating
• ISSN: 2095-025X; 2095-0268
• DOI: 10.1007/s11706-024-0707-7

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) whiskers modified with octadecyltrimethoxysilane were incorporated into the coating solution through a solution blending method. The superhydrophobic coating was designed and fabricated using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyperfluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) as the main constituents, while silane-modified TiO 2 whiskers as the fillers. The results demonstrated that after a 360-h scaling test, the mass of CaCO 3 on the surface of the resulted silane-modified superhydrophobic TiO 2 –PVDF–FEP coating was only 1.90 mg·cm −2 , decreased by 37.1% and 16.7% compared with those on the PVDF–FEP coating and the TiO 2 –PVDF–FEP coating, respectively. The synergistic effects of the air film, silane-modified TiO 2 whiskers, and superhydrophobicity ensure that this superhydrophobic TiO 2 –PVDF–FEP coating has excellent scale inhibition performance. This study presents a novel approach for advancing the development of superhydrophobic coatings, offering promising prospects for industrial-scale applications in preventive measures.