Fabrication of Self-Cleaning Superhydrophobic Surfaces with Improved Corrosion Resistance on 6061 Aluminum Alloys

Abstract

Aluminum alloys are widely used, but they are prone to contamination or damage under harsh working environments. In this paper, a self-cleaning superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surface with good corrosion resistance was successfully fabricated via the combination of sand peening and electrochemical oxidation, and it was subsequently covered with a fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) film. The surface morphology, surface wettability, and corrosion resistance were investigated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an optical contact angle measurement, and an electrochemical workstation. The results show that binary rough structures and an FAS film with a low surface energy on the Al alloy surfaces confer good superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 167.5 ± 1.1 • and a sliding angle of 2.5 ± 0.7 • . Meanwhile, the potentiodynamic polarization curve shows that the corrosion potential has a positively shifted trend, and the corrosion current density decreases by three orders of magnitude compared with that of the original aluminum alloy sample. In addition, the chemical stability of the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface was evaluated by dripping test using solutions with different pH values for different immersion time. It indicates that the superhydrophobic surface could provide long-term corrosion protection for aluminum alloys. Consequently, the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface has excellent contamination resistance and self-cleaning efficacy, which are important for practical applications.

Slippery liquid infused porous surfaces with corrosion resistance potential on aluminum alloy

“…The increase of corrosion potential and the decrease of corrosion current density indicate that the SLIPS effectively inhibits the anodic solubility of the aluminum alloy. This is similar to the results of Jeong 33 and Dong 34 discussed in reducing the corrosion current density by using electrochemical anodizing technique and sand peening method. The oil film formed by the injection of lubricating oil plays an important role in preventing the direct contact between the chloride ions and the surface of the sample, thereby improving the corrosion resistance of the aluminum alloy surface in a corrosive environment.…”

A Novel Simple Fabrication Method for Mechanically Robust Superhydrophobic 2024 Aluminum Alloy Surfaces

“…In general, a two-step methodology including fabrication of a rough surface consisting of micro/nano structures and chemical modification using some low-surface-energy materials has been widely used to create superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surfaces [4,5,16]. Because a rough surface is critical to superhydrophobicity and mechanical durability of superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surfaces, many approaches, such as laser texture [6,7,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29], boiling-water treatment [30][31][32], electrodeposition [8,[33][34][35], a combination of micromilling and grinding [36], hydrothermal synthesis [9,10], spin coating [37], anodizing [38][39][40], a…”

Stable and Durable Conductive Superhydrophobic Coatings Prepared by Double-Layer Spray Coating Method

“…Inspired by natural organisms, superhydrophobic surfaces, defined as surfaces with contact angles greater than 150 degrees and rolling angles less than 10 degrees, have attracted extensive attention from many experts and scholars [6][7][8]. They have been applied in specific fields due to their special properties, which include self-cleaning [9][10][11][12], corrosion-resistant [13][14][15], drag-reducing [16,17], and anti-icing abilities [18][19][20]. Superhydrophobic surfaces have been proven to possess excellent corrosion resistance [21,22].…”