LAUSR

Surface modification of various materials is important to impart the desired surface characteristics to them for their improved performance for industrial as well as domestic use. Preparation of suitable coating materials to enhance the efficacy of the substrates of engineering importance is necessary for offering wide spectrum of applications. Performance evaluation of the coating material for foldable materials is indeed important to justify its compatibility with the substrates. Here we demonstrate the potential of the soft polymeric coating especially for the foldable material to impart resistance towards highly corrosive environment. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was used with the cross-linking agent to prepare the coating material. The experiments were performed to explore the effects of the polymeric coating on the foldable aluminium foils exposed to corrosive environment for wide pH range and long exposure time. The experiments with the contact angle measurements revealed the potential of flexible PDMS coatings for the foldable materials to enhance their surface characteristics. The durability of the polymeric coating was also justified with the surface morphology demonstrated by the micrographs obtained using scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy detector. The findings of the present work confirm the suitability of the cost effective and biocompatible soft polymeric coating materials especially for the surface modification of foldable substrates for variety of applications, and open up new research direction to improve the adhesion of soft polymeric coating materials with tunable viscoelasticity on to the flexible substrates.Graphical Abstract