One-step hydrothermal process to fabricate superhydrophobic surface on magnesium alloy with enhanced corrosion resistance and self-cleaning performance

•A facile one-step method for fabricating superhydrophobic surface on Mg alloy is developed.•The superhydrophobic surface has enhanced anti-corrosion performance.•The superhydrophobic surface exhibits excellent self-cleaning performance.•The mechanisms of corrosion resistance and self-cleaning performance are deduced.

Superhydrophobic surfaces can exhibit anti-corrosion, anti-fogging, and self-cleaning performance due to their high water repellence. It is significant for industrial fabricating of superhydrophobic surface with a simple and environment-friendly method. Herein, a facile, environment-friendly, and cost-effective one-step hydrothermal route is proposed to fabricate the superhydrophobic surface on magnesium alloy. The as-prepared superhydrophobic magnesium alloy surface presents the rough and hierarchical micro/nano- structure grafted with long hydrophobic alkyl chains via covalent bonds. Both electrochemical corrosion test and long term immersion in 3.5 wt.% of NaCl solution demonstrate that the superhydrophobic surface greatly improves the corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy. Meanwhile, the superhydrophobic magnesium alloy exhibits excellent self-cleaning performance. It is supposed that this facile method and remarkable properties of resultant superhydrophobic magnesium alloys have a promising future in expanding the application of magnesium alloys.

Graphical abstractA facile, environment-friendly, and cost-effective one-step hydrothermal route is proposed to fabricate the superhydrophobic surface on magnesium alloy. The as-prepared superhydrophobic surface can greatly improve the corrosion resistance and self-cleaning performance of magnesium alloy due to its high water repellence.Download high-res image (56KB)Download full-size image