Facile approach to develop anti-corrosive superhydrophobic aluminium with high mechanical, chemical and thermal durability

Durable, superhydrophobic and self-cleaning aluminium surfaces with high corrosion resistance are desirable in many industrial applications. In this study, a facile approach is used to produce aluminium surfaces with superhydrophobicity with a low tilt angle by creating desired roughness structure by immersing in NaOH solution followed by lowering the surface energy by immersing in hexadecyltrimethoxysilane solution. The coated samples show water contact angle of 164 ± 7° and tilt angle of 5 ± 1°. Droplet dynamics of the coated surfaces was investigated. Surfaces exhibited self-cleaning properties. In addition, mechanical, chemical and thermal stability tests were performed. Electrochemical tests of coated surfaces demonstrated anti-corrosion properties with low corrosion current density and high corrosion potential. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology’.