Soiling and corrosion behaviors on fluorinated anodized TiO2 surface infused by perfluoropolyether

- Fluorinated TiO2 nanotube surface infused by lubricant was fabricated on titanium.
- Necessity for immobilizing lubricant via roughening and fluorination was revealed.
- Antifouling for crude oil contamination and corrosion resistance were presented.

Soiling and corrosion are severe problems in industrial process, such as fluid transportation in pipelines and heat exchange. Therefore, fluorinated TiO2 surface infused by liquid perfluoropolyether (PFPE) was successfully fabricated on titanium. The anti-soiling and corrosion resistance performance were investigated. TiO2 formation and fluorination were realized by anodization and chemical graft. PFPE was infused in fluorinated TiO2 via capillary force. The morphologies of TiO2 were characterized and liquid PFPE film equivalent thickness was measured. Corrosion resistance of the treated samples in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution was investigated and its corrosion resistance was obviously improved. Contact angle hysteresis and sliding angle were measured. Compared with titanium, the PFPE infused fluorinated TiO2 surface presents lower contact angle hysteresis and sliding angle for various liquids. The necessity of immobilizing PFPE with surface roughening and fluorination was revealed. Soiling tests of the samples were proceeded by immersion in crude oil. Initially few crude oil soiling was adhered on the surface infused by PFPE and the good anti-soiling performance was kept about 120 min. In general, the lubricant infused fluorinated TiO2 surface displays outstanding corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution and effective anti-soiling for crude oil contamination.