Super-hydrophobic film fabricated on aluminium surface as a barrier to atmospheric corrosion in a marine environment

•Simple electrochemical method is utilised to fabricate super-hydrophobic layer.•Deliquesced NaCl particle can slip off the inclined super-hydrophobic layer.•Super-hydrophobic layer resists corrosion of substrate with efficiency of 99.99%.•The as-fabricated layer presents good adherence to substrate and abrasion resistance.

Super-hydrophobic aluminium oxide layers were fabricated on aluminium surface with a simple anodisation method followed by fluorination treatment. It is proven that deliquesced NaCl particle can easily slip off the as-fabricated super-hydrophobic layer with low inclination angle for its low attraction to the layer. The super-hydrophobic layer can reduce corrosion of aluminium with an inhibition efficiency of 99.99%. Scotch tape test and Scratch test results indicated that the super-hydrophobic layers show good adherence to the substrate and abrasion resistance. These results demonstrate the advantages of the as-fabricated super-hydrophobic layer as a barrier to marine atmospheric corrosion.