Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Colloids and Surfaces A journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/colsurfa Silver-doped superhydrophobic carbon soot coatings with enhanced wear resistance and anti-microbial performance Karekin D. Esmeryan a, ⁎ , Carlos E. Castano b , Todor A. Chaushev c , Reza Mohammadi b , Todorka G. Vladkova d a Acoustoelectronics Laboratory, Georgi Nadjakov Institute of Solid State Physics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72, Tzarigradsko Chaussee Blvd., 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria b Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA c Research Department, Nadezhda Women’s Health Hospital, 3 “BlagaVest” Street, 1330, Sofia, Bulgaria d University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, 8 “Kliment Ohridski” Blvd., 1756, Sofia, Bulgaria GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Silver hydrogen fluoride Soot Spray coating Superhydrophobicity Wear resistance ABSTRACT In spite of the substantial interest and ongoing research in the field of superhydrophobicity, the wide daily-life usability of extremely water repellent coatings is somehow impeded due to the insuperable (currently) market requirements for simultaneous possession of cost-effectiveness, profitability, scalability and long-term durability. Carbon soot, seemingly worthless substance linked primarily with the disquieting climate changes, is gaining increasing popularity as an inexpensive and inherently hydrophobic material combining multifunctional prop- erties such as non-wettability, icephobicity, optical permeability and anti-bioadhesiveness. In this article, we suggest a simple spray coating procedure for the development of novel silver-doped soot coatings with enhanced wear resistance and anti-microbial performance. The inclusion of silver hydrogen fluoride (AgHF 2 ) in a soot-rich ethanol solution, and its sequential spray deposition on 200 °C heated glass slides, transforms the soot into an organometallic compound capable of retaining structural integrity, excellent surface adhesion and super- hydrophobicity under finger-wiping and high-impact water jetting (∼25 m/s). Furthermore, the as prepared soot coatings show good degree of wear resistance towards sandpaper abrasion, remain free of attached bacteria, slowdown the proliferation of various Gram-negative bacterial strains and exhibit satisfactory long-term dur- ability after 105 days of prolonged residence in sea water, promoting the possibility for future “on-field” studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2019.123880 Received 7 August 2019; Accepted 28 August 2019 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: karekin_esmerian@abv.bg (K.D. Esmeryan). Colloids and Surfaces A 582 (2019) 123880 Available online 03 September 2019 0927-7757/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T