Superamphiphobic Magnesium Alloys with Extraordinary Environmental Adaptability

The application of magnesium alloys is seriously limited by their poor environmental adaptability. In this work, we report a robust superamphiphobic coating, which endows magnesium alloys with extraordinary environmental adaptability. The coating was fabricated on magnesium alloys by a facile, cost-effective, and scalable method, one-step particle-free spraying. The as-treated magnesium alloys show excellent superamphiphobicity with the static contact angles (CAs) of water, ethylene glycol, benzyl alcohol, and cyclohexanol droplets of 157.5 degrees, 155.1 degrees, 151.7 degrees, and 151.3 degrees, respectively. These samples also display small dynamic CAs (0 degrees for water and 10 degrees for ethylene glycol) and water super-repellency, which endow magnesium surfaces with droplet impact resistance, self-cleaning, and oil-resistance functions. The simulating environmental-adaptability tests demonstrate that the as-treated magnesium alloys can remain superamphiphobic under various mechanical, chemical, and physical damages including sand impact (>= 10 cycles), water impact (nu = 4.5 m.s(-1), 2 impacts.s(-1), 20 h), abrasion (1.0 kPa, 50 cycles), strong acid/alkaline solution (pH = 1-14), organic solvents immersion (ethylene glycol, n-hexane, >= 48 h), high temperature (200 degrees C, 72 h), and ultraviolet irradiation (lambda = 254 nm, 672 h). The natural environmental-adaptability tests in the acidic industrial atmosphere for 40 days further confirm the robustness of the as-treated magnesium alloys under harsh environments. This work not only provides a promising method for industrially fabricating environmental-adaptable coatings on metallic materials but also paves the way for the much wider applications of magnesium alloys.

Automated summary

This study presents a robust superamphiphobic coating for magnesium alloys, enhancing their environmental adaptability and expanding their potential applications. The coating shows excellent water, ethylene glycol, benzyl alcohol, and cyclohexanol repellency, as well as resistance to various mechanical, chemical, and physical damages, making it promising for industrial use.