Superhydrophobic coating with excellent robustness and UV resistance fabricated using hydrothermal treated lignin nanoparticles by one-step spray

Superhydrophobic surfaces with good stability and simple step have been successfully prepared in recent year, but still suffering from low environmentally friendly method, poor ageing resistance and weak abrasion resistance. To address the above issues, biomass organic particles (hydrothermal treated lignin nanospheres (HLNPs)) instead of inorganic particles were used as the main material to prepare a fluorine-free superhydrophobic coating by facile one-step spray. The Methyltrimethoxysilane and Hexadecyltrimethoxysilane were taken as the combined modifiers, nanocellulose crystals as the reinforcer and PDMS as the adhesive were mixed with HLNPs and sprayed onto the wood surface. The resulting HLNPs-based superhydrophobic coating showed good abrasion resistance and withstood abrasion cycles of 24 times under harsh conditions, as well as displaying excellent UV resistance and did not lose superhydrophobic property until UV radiation for 8 h under the super UV light (power of 1000 W) due to the functional groups of HLNPs such as the benzene ring, double bond and carbonyl group et al. having good UV absorption. LNP after hydrothermal treatment enhance its performance due to the formation of covalent-non-covalent forces between molecules and the shorter intermolecular distance. Besides, with the advantages of environmentally friendly and facile preparation, the HLNPs-based superhydrophobic coating could be deduced to have great potential applications.