Corrosion—reactions occuring between engineering materials and their environment—can cause material failure and catastrophic accidents, which have a serious impact on economic development and social stability. Recently, super-hydrophobic coatings have received much attention due to their effectiveness in preventing engineering materials from further corrosion. In this paper, basic principles of wetting properties and corrosion protection mechanism of super-hydrophobic coatings are introduced firstly. Secondly, the fabrication methods by electrochemical surface engineering—including electrochemical anodization, micro-arc oxidation, electrochemical etching, and deposition—are presented. Finally, the stabilities and future directions of super-hydrophobic coatings are discussed in order to promote the movement of such coatings into real-world applications. The objective of this review is to bring a brief overview of the recent progress in the fabrication of super-hydrophobic coatings by electrochemical surface methods for corrosion protection of engineering materials.

The mechanical properties of superhydrophobic surfaces based on nickel composite coatings was enhanced by co-deposition of tungsten carbide. After modified by stearic acid, the surfaces showed excellent water-repellence and abrasive resistance.

Although super-hydrophobic surfaces have great application prospects in industry, their preparation cost and mechanical durability have limited their practical utilization. In this work, we presented a new low-cost process preparation for super-hydrophobic Co–Ni coating on carbon steel substrate via an electrodeposition route. The deposited Co–Ni coating with cauliflower-shaped micro-nano structures exhibited high super-hydrophobic properties with water contact angles over 161° after modification with 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorooctyltrichlorosilane (PFTEOS). Evaluated by the linear abrasion methods, the super-hydrophobic coating can maintain super-hydrophobicity after abrasion distance of 12 m under the applied pressure of 5 kPa, which was attributed to the high cobalt content of the Co–Ni coating. Moreover, electrochemical tests showed that the super-hydrophobic Co–Ni coatings exhibited a good anti-corrosion performance thus providing an adequate protection to the carbon steel substrates.

The solubility of Bi ³⁺ in aqueous solution is an important factor that limits the fabrication of high-quality Bi ₂ S ₃ thin films. In order to find a low-cost method to manufacture high-quality Bi ₂ S ₃ thin films, we are reporting the preparation of the Bi ₂ S ₃ thin films based on pulse-plating method in this paper for the first time. The nano-bismuth particles were obtained by electroplating on fluorine-doped SnO ₂ (FTO)-coated conducting glass substrates with saturated bismuth potassium citrate solution as the electroplating bath, and then it was put into a muffle furnace to oxidize. Finally, the thin films depositing on FTO glass substrates were put into the thioacetamide solution for vulcanization. In the end, the Bi ₂ S ₃ thin films were successfully prepared on FTO glass substrates. Different characterization techniques were used to characterize the structure, morphology and photoelectrochemical properties of the prepared thin films. The test results revealed that we used this method to synthesize the high-quality Bi ₂ S ₃ thin films, thus the Bi ₂ S ₃ materials synthesized through this method are promising candidates in photoelectrochemical application.

As a typical spinel structure material, ZnMn₂O₄ has been widely researched in the field of electrode materials. However, ZnMn₂O₄ nanoparticles as electrode materials for supercapacitors have the disadvantages of low conductivity, inferior structural integrity, and easy aggregation, resulting in unsatisfying electrochemical performance. In this work, we use a hydrothermal method and high-temperature calcination to deposit ZnMn₂O₄ nanoparticles on carbon cloth and explore the influence of hydrothermal reaction time on the deposition morphology and distribution of ZnMn₂O₄ nanoparticles on carbon cloth. The deposition process of ZnMn₂O₄ nanoparticles on carbon cloth was analyzed, and a ZMO-9 electrode was deduced to be the most suitable electrode for supercapacitors. A series of electrochemical performance tests show that the ZMO-9 electrode has excellent specific capacitance (specific capacity) (499 F·g⁻¹ (299.4 C·g⁻¹) at a current density of 1 A·g⁻¹) and rate performance (75% capacitance retention at a current density of 12 A·g⁻¹). The assembled asymmetric supercapacitor has an energy density of 46.6 Wh·kg⁻¹ when the power density is 800.1 W·kg⁻¹. This work provides a reference for the structural design of ZnMn₂O₄ supercapacitor electrode materials and the improvement of electrochemical properties.