Fabrication of stable and versatile superhydrophobic PTFE coating by simple electrodeposition on metal surface

Superhydrophobic coating has attracted increasing attention due to its exceptional performance, yet fabricating a stable superhydrophobic coating on metal surfaces remains challenging. In this study, a superhydrophobic PTFE coating on the stainless-steel surface with a high stability and versatile performance was fabricated by the simple electrodeposition and high-temperature curing. This approach allowed the superhydrophobic PTFE coating on any metal surfaces to be fabricated in a few minutes. It was found that the addition of water in the solution played a key role in the coating stability, which was speculated that a stable structure of MgO-MgCl₂-H₂O formed as an adhesive underlayer for the PTFE coating. Furthermore, the surface morphology and hydrophobicity of the coating could be controlled by the bubbles formation on samples surfaces by varying water contents during the electrodeposition. The coating exhibited a maximum water contact angle of 158 ± 2°, and the performance tests indicated that the superhydrophobic PTFE coating exhibits the outstanding stability, self-cleaning property, anti-condensation, corrosion resistance and anti-scale ability. The scale inhibiting rate of the coated surface was up to 80.75 % after 12-hour immersion in the CaCO₃ solution. The optimized parameters for the electrodeposition route are highly desirable for the development of the advanced superhydrophobic PTFE coatings for various applications.