Superhydrophobic surfaces made of flexible materials have attracted much attention in the fields of wearable and flexible devices. In this work, an easy-to-process, fluorine-free, mechanically stable superhydrophobic surface with a multilayered rough structure was fabricated by the template/spraying method using silicone rubber with mechanical flexibility, electrical insulation, and bio-inertness. It can form an air layer between the droplet and the sample, reducing the contact area between the droplet and the sample, and its contact angle can reach 170°and the rolling angle can be 2.5°. After many bendings and twistings, the sample still maintains excellent superhydrophobic performance. The contact angle of the sample still exceeded 150°after 100 cm of abrasion on the sandpaper. Droplets can bounce many times on the sample surface without being stuck. Compared with the control surface, the time from the beginning of precooling to the complete freezing of droplets on the superhydrophobic surface was extended by a factor of 3.4 at −10 °C. Therefore, this research still has a bright application prospect in extreme environments.
In order to improve the hydrophobic and mechanical properties of paper mulch film, ZnO/SiO2 composite coated paper mulch film was prepared with a brush coating method. Hydrophobicity and durability of the original paper mulch film and the coated paper mulch film were measured by static contact angle and mechanical torsion tests, and the mechanical properties of the two kinds of paper mulch films were measured by tensile and tear tests at different temperatures. The two kinds of paper mulch films were characterized by their micro-morphology and surface element distribution. The results show that the contact angle of the ZnO/SiO2 composite coated paper mulch film reaches 161.46°, and the contact angle can still reach 153.15° after 80 mechanical torsion cycles, which shows good superhydrophobic and hydrophobic durability. Compared with the original paper mulch film, the mechanical properties of the coated paper mulch film are also improved to some extent. Combined with the surface micro-morphology, it is found that a ZnO/SiO2 composite coating fills the pores between fibers in the paper mulch film and promotes the adhesion between fibers, thus improving the hydrophobicity, durability, and mechanical properties of the paper mulch film.
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