Development of Superhydrophobic Materials for Maritime Applications

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Ocean Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 April 2025) | Viewed by 305

Special Issue Editors

School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China
Interests: drag reduction; wettability; water harvest; UUV; instability flow; heat and mass transfer

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Guest Editor
School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Interests: overall design of new-concept underwater vehicles; refined simulation of complex turbulent flow fields of pump-jet propellers and analysis of flow noise; calculation of hydrodynamic performance of bionic soft-body submersibles and energy-saving characteristics of group tours
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The harsh and complex marine environment requires advanced surface treatments for maritime structures to enhance corrosion resistance, maintain cleanliness, and reduce drag. Over the past two decades, superhydrophobic surfaces—drawing inspiration from nature—have shown remarkable potential for use in maritime applications, largely due to their self-cleaning properties. When in contact with water, these surfaces' micro-/nanostructures trap a thin air layer, providing significant benefits in terms of anti-biofouling, anti-corrosion, and drag reduction, critical for improving vessel performance and extending the lifespan of marine equipment.

This Special Issue will present recent breakthroughs and innovations in the development of superhydrophobic materials specifically tailored for maritime applications. One area of interest will be enhancing the durability of superhydrophobic coatings and understanding their long-term effectiveness in marine environments. We also welcome studies exploring the impact of superhydrophobic surfaces on biofouling prevention, corrosion resistance, drag reduction, and broader applications such as anti-icing and underwater sensors. Contributions addressing the challenges involved in maintaining surface stability in extreme conditions and exploring new uses of superhydrophobic materials in maritime contexts are strongly encouraged, contributing to the future of sustainable maritime technology.

Dr. Dong Song
Prof. Dr. Qiaogao Huang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • micro-/nanostructures
  • drag reduction
  • prevention of biofouling
  • corrosion resistance
  • durability in harsh environments
  • wettability control
  • self-cleaning surfaces
  • protection for underwater sensors
  • multiphase simulation of superhydrophobic surfaces
  • anti-icing in marine environments

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 3003 KiB  
Article
Locally Freezing Control via Superhydrophobic Patterns on Hydrophilic Substrates
by Dong Song, Jiacheng Zhang, Changsheng Xu, Xiang Wang, Sihan Huang and Pengcheng Ye
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13(6), 1009; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13061009 - 22 May 2025
Viewed by 59
Abstract
Ice accumulation on cold surfaces presents significant operational and safety challenges in various fields such as power transmission, aviation, and polar marine transportation. This study investigates the effectiveness of selectively applied superhydrophobic patterns on hydrophilic substrates to locally control freezing behaviors. The freezing [...] Read more.
Ice accumulation on cold surfaces presents significant operational and safety challenges in various fields such as power transmission, aviation, and polar marine transportation. This study investigates the effectiveness of selectively applied superhydrophobic patterns on hydrophilic substrates to locally control freezing behaviors. The freezing dynamics of water droplets impacting surfaces with hybrid wettability patterns were investigated experimentally under cold conditions. The results demonstrate that superhydrophobic surfaces significantly reduce the freezing rate due to decreased contact time and the contact region. By selectively placing superhydrophobic patterns on hydrophilic surfaces, the location of ice formation could be effectively manipulated. The use of multiple superhydrophobic stripes was found to segment the impacting droplets into several parts, implying the ability to selectively avoid ice accumulation at specific areas. Furthermore, experiments identified critical temperature thresholds at which the effectiveness of superhydrophobic stripes diminishes. When the temperature of the substrate is higher than −25 °C, the superhydrophobic stripes can sufficiently divide an impacting droplet leaving no ice at the superhydrophobic region. In the tested temperature range between −25 °C and −40 °C, the ice coverage ratio at the superhydrophobic region increases as temperature decreases, with a maximum value of 25.6 ± 2.33% at −40 °C. Superhydrophobic patterns also exhibited improved deicing efficiency during melting processes, highlighting their potential for robust ice management applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Superhydrophobic Materials for Maritime Applications)
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