Work

Multifunctional magnetorheological elastomers with superior superhydrophobicity and mechanical robustness enabled by magnetic alignment

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) promise multifunctional performance, but practical use is often limited by poor mechanical resilience. Many SHS rely on soft polymer matrices that are structurally vulnerable; water repellency and related functions degrade under stress. This study introduces a novel method to fabricate multifunctional SHS by combining anisotropic magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) with bio-inspired sharkskin microstructures and hydrophobic iron oxide nanoparticle (SHIP) coating. The SHS fabrication involved a two-step process: soft lithography to imprint a sharkskin pattern on a polyurethane (PU) matrix containing SHIP, followed by SHIP deposition during partial curing under a vertical magnetic field. This process promoted the formation of rebar-like chain microstructures and micro–nano hierarchical roughness, enabling durable superhydrophobicity. The resulting coating exhibited a water contact angle of 163° and contact angle hysteresis of 1°, and retained superhydrophobicity after 500 cm of 240-grit sandpaper abrasion (3.3 kPa), water-jet impact, and 90 days of open-air exposure. The new material showed enhanced compressive strength (59.4% improvement from the control), attributed to vertically aligned iron particle chains, and higher loss modulus and loss factor. Collectively, these results demonstrate a robust, multifunctional coating for applications demanding water repellency, toughness, and vibration damping—for example, marine protective surfaces.

Source: Applied Surface Science

DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2026.166697