One-Step Spraying Strategy for Fabricating Bioinspired, Graphene-Based, and Multifunctional-Integrated Coatings on Structural Steel with Good Water Repellency, Fireproofing, Anticorrosion, and Durability

Abstract

Traditionally, many coatings were merely concentrated on settling the inherent fire protection problem of steel structures, while surface contamination and corrosion susceptibility should also be considered. Concurrently addressing these problems in fireproof efficiency and surface multifunctionality has become an issue of great significance in further expanding the application value in industrial and daily scenarios. Based on this condition, ecofriendly, graphene-based, and superhydrophobic coatings with multifunctional integration were constructed on steel via a one-step spraying method. The as-prepared coatings mainly consist of epoxy resin (EP), silicone resin (SR), a cyclodextrin-based flame retardant (MCDPM), expandable graphite (EG), and multilayered graphene (MG). The results demonstrate that the water contact angle (WCA) and water sliding angle (WSA) of asprepared coatings can reach 156.8 ± 1.6 and 5.8 ± 0.7°, respectively, revealing good water repellency and self-cleaning properties. The coatings can also exhibit adequate adaptability for various substrates including wood, polyurethane foam, and cotton fabrics. Besides, good durability and robustness of coatings have been also verified via acid/alkali immersion, outdoor exposure, O 2 /plasma etching, and linear abrasion tests. Simultaneously, the coatings can exhibit excellent anticorrosion capacity for steel materials via a double barrier effect. Most importantly, the coatings have exhibited the lowest backside temperature (234.5 °C) during fire impact tests, suggesting excellent fireproof and heat insulation performance. This fact can be ascribed to the conjunct action between the physical/chemical charring process of flame retardants and the remarkable thermal stability of graphene. Consequently, this article can be expected to further promote the development and application of multifunctional-integrated coatings for steel structures in more fields.