Superhydrophobic rice husk ash coating on concrete

The superhydrophobic coating was prepared using rice husk ash dispersed in the ethanolic solution containing fluoroalkyl silane, 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyl triethoxy silane (2 vol.%).

Water uptake and sorptivity were reduced

The ash solution was sprayed on a layer of commercial adhesive coated on the concrete. The water contact angle of 152.3 ± 0.5° on the coated concrete was observed. The cumulative water uptake was reduced as much as 40.38% while the water sorptivity was reduced up to 44.44%. The penetration of water into the coated concrete under the water pressure of 500 kPa was successfully reduced after 72 h, but not fully prevented. The ash coating did not affect the surface hardness or the compressive strength significantly, but the ash coating resulted in a higher ultrasonic velocity due to the reduction of surface porosity.

The study is published in: Construction and Building Materials, Volume 144, 30 July 2017, Pages 385–391