Kalsiyum Stearat-Epoksi Bazlı Kompozit Malzemelerde Hidrofobisitenin Araştırılması

Hydrophobic surfaces are essential for enhancing the longevity and performance of products across various sectors, particularly in construction, automotive, electronics, and medicine. This characteristic minimizes maintenance expenses by establishing a natural barrier against pollution and corrosion, hence prolonging the lifespan of the materials. Moreover, implementing this technology provides novel methods for attaining energy efficiency and environmental sustainability objectives. This research introduced a composite material formulated with calcium stearate (CS) and epoxy, designed as a coating solution to enhance hydrophobic qualities on surfaces. This technique is intended to create a formulation that integrates the water-repellent characteristics of CS with the structural resilience of epoxy for application on various surfaces. The contact angle of the composite, derived from adding CS into epoxy at concentrations of 1%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% by weight, was assessed against pure water. Neat epoxy has a hydrophilic structure with a contact angle of 70.5°, whereas the composite containing 8% CS demonstrates the highest hydrophobicity, with a contact angle of 117.5°. Furthermore, adding CS led to a decrease in Shore D hardness values.