Preparation of durable superhydrophobic composite coatings with photothermal conversion precisely targeted configuration self-healability and great degradability

Abstract Rapid self-healing of micro-configurations is an effective strategy to enhance the durability of superhydrophobic surfaces, however, this property is challenging to achieve. Here, a durable superhydrophobic coating with a precisely targeted self-healing ability to repair its’ dual structure was developed by spray-coating a polyimine film with a mixture of novel fluorinated epoxy resin and Fe3O4@SiO2–NH2 nanoparticles. The superhydrophobic surface can heal both the broken morphology and wettability through a short irradiation process on account of its local photothermal conversion ability and dynamic imine bond, and can maintain the static water contact angle at a value higher than 159° even after six damage/healing cycles. Furthermore, superhydrophobic coatings can be controllably degraded in three ways. Additionally, because of the robust epoxy resin protection, the surface can withstand sixteen times the dynamic impact and still maintain a WCA greater than 150°. This preparation strategy may aid the fabrication of durable superhydrophobic surfaces for various practical applications.