Fabrication of functionalized aluminum compound petallike structure with superhydrophobic surface

Abstract

AbstractThe petallike structures, similar to that of a lotus leaf, were directly fabricated on the surface of aluminum sheets by a simple one‐step solution‐immersion process. It was found that the width of the nanoflakes ranges from 20 to 500 nm, and the length of the flakes is about several micrometers. The wettability of the surface with a hierarchical structure was changed from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity by chemical modification with perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (PDES). The static contact angles (CAs) for water on both of the modified surfaces were larger than 150° , which was closely related to the chemical modification and hierarchical structure. Furthermore, the surfaces retained good superhydrophobic stability in long‐term storage as well, which should be critical to the application of aluminum materials in engineering. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.