Fabrication of biomimetic superhydrophobic and anti-icing Ti6Al4V alloy surfaces by direct laser interference lithography and hydrothermal treatment

Abstract

Nature gives us a large number of inspirations in designing functional materials. Many plant leaves with self-cleaning properties are ubiquitous in nature. These plants have hierarchical structures, which have extreme repellency to liquids and have considerable technical potential in various applications. Herein, we present a method for fabricating bionic taro leaf surfaces by direct laser interference lithography (DLIL) and hydrothermal treatment. The micro-pillar array structure (MPA) was fabricated by DLIL, and a layer of nano-grass structure (NG) was grown on it by hydrothermal treatment. Experiments indicate that the hierarchical composite structures not only have a satisfactory superhydrophobic function with the apparent contact angle (CA) of 172° and sliding angle (SA) of 4°, but also have a strong anti-icing ability with the delay time (DT) of 3723 s. The method is simple and high-efficient for fabricating bionic self-cleaning and anti-icing surfaces.