Facile and green fabrication of mussel-inspired polydopamine-based hydrophobic coating for concrete protection

The hydrophilic and porous surface nature of concrete leads to its vulnerability to the penetration of water and detrimental ions. To increase the durability of concrete infrastructure, facile and effective surface protection strategy is developed. Inspired by the universal mussel adhesion, polydopamine is facilely deposited on the cement surface, followed by the secondary hydrophobic modification. Amine-ended hydrophobic agent is disclosed to be more reactive with PDA surface than that ended with thiol, and the hydrophobic chains on surface in brush configuration is found to be more hydrophobic (achieving water contact angle of ~ 138.8°) than that in loops. Graphical abstract