Superhydrophobic surface based on micro/nano structured ZnO nanosheets for high-efficiency anticorrosion

There are two key factors in the fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces. One is to have the appropriate micro/nano structure, and the other is to reduce the surface energy of the solid surface. In this work, the cyclic voltammetric electrodeposition method (CVE) was used to construct the micro/nano rough structure of zinc oxide nanosheets (ZnO NS) on steel sheets. Triethoxy(octyl)silane (TTOS) is used to reduce the surface energy of solid surfaces. Their synergistic effect fabricated a superhydrophobic surface (ZnO NS-TTOS). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurement (CA) confirmed the successful fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces. The surface roughness and morphology were characterized by 3D optical profiler and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed that the hydrophobic modification of TTOS thickened the zinc oxide film and greatly enhanced the anti-corrosion performance of the zinc oxide film. The influence of voltage range on contact angle and the synthesis mechanism of zinc oxide nanosheets are discussed. In addition, the Tafel curve shows that the fabricated superhydrophobic surface can achieve 99.83% corrosion inhibition rate compared with blank steel and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is used to explore its anti-corrosion mechanism. Finally, anti-fouling performance and photoelectric effect tests show that the fabricated superhydrophobic surface can resist and photodegrade pollutants, which further improves the versatility of the superhydrophobic surface.