Research Progress Superhydrophobic Sealing Materials Used in Cultural Relics Protection

Cultural relics are valuable historical and cultural heritages with rich cultural connotation of human beings. However, under the action of water vapor, microbes, etc, the cultural relics tend to be corroded. Therefore, the protection of cultural relics is extremely of importance. Bionic superhydrophobic materials with the excellent non-wetting and self-cleaning behaviors are being used to prevent the contamination and corrosion by moisture and microbes. Herein, the researching progress of superhydrophobic materials in the field of cultural relics protection is reviewed. Firstly, the basic principles and the major problems of cultural relics protection are discussed. Secondly, the wetting mechanism of superhydrophobic surface is discussed. Then, examples and problems of superhydrophobic materials to protect different types of cultural relics are summarized. Finally, the key technical problems affecting the light transmittivity and durability of the coating are analyzed, and the development prospect of superhydrophobic sealing materials is proposed, which can fill the review blank of the application of superhydrophobic materials in the field of cultural relics protection.