Fabrication of a superhydrophobic Ce/Mn alloy coating for multipronged robustness applications via a two-step method on carbon steel

The Development of superhydrophobic coatings with exceptional durability is crucial for achieving impactful corrosion protection. This paper demonstrates the fabrication of a superhydrophobic cerium/manganese alloy (SCMA) coating, exhibiting a great contact angle (CA) of 163.7° and a low sliding angle (SA) of 1.4°. Utilizing a two-step method, cerium ions and manganese ions were electrodeposited onto a carbon steel (CS) substrate with optimized parameters, followed by a surface modification with palmitic acid (PA). The SCMA coating maintained its superhydrophobicity even after 12 h of exposure to acid and alkali solutions. Meanwhile, the SCMA coating was immersed in artificial water-based contaminants (sludge, milk, and tea), preserving its superhydrophobicity after 60 s of exposure. The durable superhydrophobicity is mainly attributable to the distinctive bud-like structure of the coating, which effectively traps more air, thereby preventing water infiltration. The adhesion durability of the SCMA coating was further evaluated through tape peel test (50 cycles) and sandpaper abrasion tests (10 cycles); the bond strength of the SCMAt coatings met Grade 3 of GB/T9286. In addition, potentiodynamic polarization plots confirmed that SMCAt has excellent corrosion resistance, characterized by a low corrosion current density (I_corr) of 2.51 × 10⁻⁶ A/cm² and a high corrosion protection efficiency (IE) of 81.95 %. These results indicate that durable superhydrophobic SCMA coatings are capable of effectively mitigating long-term corrosion, making them highly promising anti-corrosion candidates for a range of applications in polar ships.