Structurally Decoupled, Fully Waterborne Superhydrophobic Coatings with Exceptional Mechanical Robustness and Anti-Icing Performance

The realization of fully waterborne superhydrophobic coatings that simultaneously deliver high mechanical durability and long-term environmental stability remains a long-standing challenge. This challenge mainly arises from the intrinsic incompatibility between extremely hydrophobic building blocks and aqueous media, as well as the mechanical fragility of hierarchical surface structures. Here, we report a fully waterborne and mechanically robust superhydrophobic coating enabled by a rationally designed, two-step spray strategy. A waterborne polyurethane adhesive underlayer serves as an elastic structural regulator and stress-dissipating scaffold, while a fluorine-rich top layer composed of in situ–generated fluorinated silica nanoparticles and a waterborne fluoroethylene vinyl ether resin constructs a stable hierarchical micro/nanostructure with ultralow surface energy. The optimized coating exhibits outstanding superhydrophobicity and strong resistance to water impalement under high-velocity water jets. Notably, the coating maintains superhydrophobicity after 600 Taber abrasion cycles, outperforming most reported waterborne systems. Additionally, the fluorinated hierarchical interface imparts excellent chemical resistance, long-term environmental durability, and remarkable anti-icing performance, e.g., prolonged freezing delay and ultralow ice adhesion strength. This work establishes a general, environmentally benign strategy for engineering high-performance waterborne superhydrophobic coatings by structurally decoupling robustness and wettability. It also offers a scalable platform for durable antifouling and ice-mitigation applications under harsh operating conditions.