Superhydrophobicity and Water Repelling Characteristics of Thermally Sprayed Coatings

This study evaluates the wetting behavior of TiO2 coatings deposited by atmospheric and suspension plasma spraying. A design-of-experiments method is used to investigate the effect of different spray parameters on the water contact angle (WCA) of the coatings. Despite the hydrophilic nature of TiO2, coatings with WCAs as high as 140° were achieved by controlling various spray parameters. SEM imaging shows that these coatings have a cauliflower-like surface morphology that repels and sheds water.