A novel fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces on aluminum substrate

Superhydrophobic surfaces were successfully fabricated by a simple machine cutting method to create the rough surface and using stearic acid to modify the surface. The products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis and contact angle (CA) measurements. Potentiodynamic polarization curves were used to reveal corrosion resistance of the samples in 3.5% NaCl aqueous solution. The results showed that the obtained superhydrophobic surfaces all possessed water contact angles of more than 150° and enhanced corrosion resistance performance. A possible formation mechanism of the surface morphologies was proposed through geometric figure. This approach requires no complex processing equipments or time-consuming preparation and no toxic reagents are involved. So this novel and environment-friendly attempt might have promising practical applications.