Superhydrophobic coatings for enhanced fibre composite materials

Manufacturing of fiber reinforced composite materials have seen a tremendous growth in the last few decades attributable to their improved properties over their constituent matrix and fiber materials, resulting in their widespread application. This increased usage has brought forward some scarcely studied issues of such materials. In this research work, we try to address one such challenge of moisture degradation of composite materials. Three different carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites: poly ether ether ketone, polyamide 6 and epoxy were coated with polyurethane poly (methyl methacrylate) interpenetrating polymer network and fluoro silica forming a micro-nano textured surface imparting superhydrophobic properties to these substrates which were then kept immersed in water for one day along with uncoated samples to study moisture degradation. Substrates covered with superhydrophobic coatings demonstrated 21-60% reduced water absorption as compared to their uncoated counterparts.