In situ growth of superhydrophobic and icephobic films with micro/nanoscale hierarchical structures on the aluminum substrate

• Hierarchical superhydrophobic and icephobic films were prepared.
• The contact angle and sliding angle were 167.3° and 3°, respectively.
• Such films exhibited the satisfactory icephobicity.

Hierarchical superhydrophobic and icephobic films on the aluminum substrates were prepared via a facile hydrothermal reaction method at 60 °C after the simple chemical modification. The results from the scanning electron microscopy observations and the X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the micro/nanoscale hierarchical surfaces composed of bayerite microrods and Zn–Al LDH nanowalls structures. The static contact angle (CA) and sliding angle (SA) for the prepared surfaces were observed about 167.3° and 3°, respectively. Icing behavior of the surfaces was investigated in −10 °C environment. Ice adhesion was evaluated by spinning the samples at constantly increasing speed until ice delaminated. The experimental observations on the freezing time of the different surfaces demonstrated well that such prepared films exhibited the satisfactory icephobicity.

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