Fabrication of pinecone-like structure superhydrophobic surface on titanium substrate and its self-cleaning property

• A pinecone-like superhydrophobic surface was fabricated on the Ti substrate.
• Superhydrophobic surface with long-term stability and self-clearing property.
• The largest static contact angle of 161.4° and ultra low slide angle of near to 0° were obtained.
• The surface show superhydrophobic properties for other droplets (tea, vinegar, coffee and milk).

A superhydrophobic surface was fabricated via an economical, simple, and highly effective anodization process combined with a low surface energy modifying. The surface exhibited rough microprotrusions consist of nanoflakes morphology, which is quite similar to the structure of the pinecone. The pinecone-like microstructures and the wettability of the surfaces could be easily adjusted by anodization parameters including anodization time and voltage. Besides a maximum water contact angle of 161.4° ± 1.5° and an extremely low sliding angle of about 0°, as prepared surface with pinecone-like hierarchical rough structure together with a chemical modification exhibited superhydrophobicity with other liquids such as tea, vinegar, coffee and milk. Moreover, this type of superhydrophobic surfaces prepared by this method was proven to have a good long-term stability, mechanical robustness, self-cleaning effect and anticorrosion.

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