Rapid fabrication of anti-corrosion and self-healing superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces through environmentally friendly femtosecond laser processing

Abstract

The development of superhydrophobic metals has found many applications such as self-cleaning, anti-corrosion, anti-icing, and water transportation. Recently, femtosecond laser has been used to create nano/microstructures and wetting property changes. However, for some of the most common metals, such as aluminum, a relatively long aging process is required to obtain stable hydrophobicity. In this work, we introduce a combination of femtosecond laser ablation and heat treatment post-process, without using any harsh chemicals. We turn aluminum superhydrophobic within 30 minutes of heat treatment following femtosecond laser processing, and this is significantly shorter compared to conventional aging process of laser-ablated aluminum. The superhydrophobic surfaces maintain high contact angles greater than 160° and low sliding angles smaller than 5° over two months after the heat treatment. Moreover, the samples exhibit strong superhydrophobicity for various types of liquids (milk, coffee, CuPc, R6G, HCl, NaOH and CuCl 2 ). The samples also show excellent self-healing and anti-corrosion properties. The mechanism for fast wettability conversion time is discussed. Our technique is a rapid process, reproducible, feasible for large-area fabrication, and environment-friendly.

Self‐Healing Superhydrophobic Surfaces: Healing Principles and Applications

“…fabricated anti‐corrosion and self‐healing superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces by combining femtosecond laser ablation and post‐process heat treatment. [ 41 ] With the environmentally friendly femtosecond laser processing, microscale protrusions were fabricated on aluminum substrate, while the ablated nanoparticles and microparticles deposited on the microscale topology, forming hierarchical structures. Followed by a post‐heating treatment to reduce the surface energy, the fabricated surface demonstrated superhydrophobicity.…”

Femtosecond laser‐produced optical absorbers for solar‐thermal energy harvesting

“…Figure 11C shows the strong anticorrosion nature of a femtosecond laser processed solar absorber. 94,96…”

“…Solar absorber installed in an open environment, especially in coastal regions and near chemical industries, needs protection against environmental corrosion. Figure 11C shows the strong anticorrosion nature of a femtosecond laser processed solar absorber 94,96 …”

Near-Infrared-Light-Assisted Self-Healing Graphene-Thermopolyurethane Composite Films

“…SHSMs can be divided into two categories: extrinsic self-healing and intrinsic self-healing systems, with or without the healing agent [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Among them, intrinsic SHSMs designate a wide variety of systems with autonomous or induced healing ability, which requires an external stimulus, including light [ 15 ], thermal or temperature [ 16 ], laser beam [ 17 ], magnetic [ 18 ], chemical [ 19 ], electricity [ 20 ] or catalytic agent [ 21 ], and can executed itself to heal after damaged. At present, many research groups have been actively engaged in the research of SHSMs [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”