Fabrication of robust Ni-based TiO2 composite@TTOS superhydrophobic coating for wear resistance and anti-corrosion

Abstract Low hardness and poor wear resistance greatly limit the application of superhydrophobic coatings. In this work, the steel substrate was first subjected to simple sandblasting and acid treatment, then a superhydrophobic coating was fabricated through electrodeposition and hydrophobic modification. In addition, fabricated Ni-W-TiO2 coating and Ni-TiO2 coating with TiO2 nanoparticles as the reinforcing phase. The stability test shows that the hardness of the Ni-W-TiO2 composite coating can reach 771 ± 25 HV, and it can still reach a water contact angle of 157.4 ± 2° under the conditions of a pressure of 2613 N/m2 and a wear distance of 1000 mm. The introduction of tungsten element and TiO2 nanoparticles can significantly improve the hardness and wear resistance of the coating, which has positive significance for the practical application of superhydrophobic coatings. The wettability test shows that the water contact angle of the superhydrophobic composite coating can reach 163 ± 2°. The electrochemical test is used to evaluate the corrosion resistance of the composite coating. The results show that the corrosion inhibition rate of the superhydrophobic composite coating can reach 99.63% under the same corrosion conditions (3.5% NaCl solution, 25 ℃). In general, the fabricated superhydrophobic composite coating has great hydrophobic properties, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance and broad industrial application prospects.