Recent advances in corrosion resistant superhydrophobic coatings

Extreme water-repellent (superhydrophobic) coatings with water contact angle higher than 150 degrees have caught the attention of corrosion researchers in the last decade as they can be used to protect metals and alloys against corrosion. The latter is a serious problem, as it can threaten human lives in addition to its deleterious effects on the economy and environment. Superhydrophobic coatings (SHCs) can be achieved by lowering the surface energy of a certain coating through combining some of its surface features at the microscale and nanoscales. Although SHCs can be prepared using many different easy techniques, none, to the best of our knowledge, has been applied, so far, on an industrial scale for protection against corrosion of metals and alloys. The present work explains the different models of superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) and reviews their fabrication and processing methods with a focus on the recent advances in the corrosion protection of the SHC.