Abstract
Both surface microstructure and low surface energy modification play a vital role in the preparation of superhydrophobic surfaces. In this study, a safe and simple electrochemical method was developed to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces of Zr-based metallic glasses with high corrosion resistance. First, micro–nano composite structures were generated on the surface of Zr-based metallic glasses by electrochemical etching in NaCl solution. Next, stearic acid was used to decrease surface energy. The effects of electrochemical etching time on surface morphology and wettability were also investigated through scanning electron microscopy and contact angle measurements. Furthermore, the influence of micro–nano composite structures and roughness on the wettability of Zr-based metallic glasses was analysed on the basis of the Cassie–Baxter model. The water contact angle of the surface was 154.3° ± 2.2°, and the sliding angle was <5°, indicating good superhydrophobicity. Moreover, the potentiodynamic polarisation test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy suggested excellent corrosion resistance performance, and the inhibition efficiency of the superhydrophobic surface reached 99.6%. Finally, the prepared superhydrophobic surface revealed excellent temperature-resistant and self-cleaning properties.
Highlights
Since superhydrophobicity was investigated in lotus leaves [1], superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted considerable research attention and have exhibited great application prospects because of their essential properties of self-cleaning [2,3], antifouling [4], antifrosting [5,6], drag reduction [7,8], and oil/water separation [9,10]
Considering that Zr46Cu46Al8 metallic glasses have high biocompatibility, and the stearic acid surface modification solution does not contain fluorine that is harmful to the human body, the proposed method is advantageous for fabricating superhydrophobic surfaces and can have promising applications in biomedicine
Experimental data show that the surface of the Zr-based metallic glasses is hydrophilic before electrochemical etching
Summary
Since superhydrophobicity was investigated in lotus leaves [1], superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted considerable research attention and have exhibited great application prospects because of their essential properties of self-cleaning [2,3], antifouling [4], antifrosting [5,6], drag reduction [7,8], and oil/water separation [9,10]. Some methods have been investigated for obtaining superhydrophobic surfaces on different metallic glasses. Ning et al [27] prepared superhydrophobic surfaces on a Zr35Ti30Be26.75Cu8.25 metallic glass by silicon moulding and subsequent chemical etching. Ma et al [28] conducted thermoplastic forming to fabricate a Pd-based metallic glass surface with micro–nanolayered structures exhibiting superhydrophobicity. The electrochemical corrosion selected in this work displays the advantages of being performed, relatively fast, very reproducible, low-cost, and suitable for the large-scale manufacturing of superhydrophobic surfaces. Considering that Zr46Cu46Al8 metallic glasses have high biocompatibility, and the stearic acid surface modification solution does not contain fluorine that is harmful to the human body, the proposed method is advantageous for fabricating superhydrophobic surfaces and can have promising applications in biomedicine. The samples were ultrasonically washed with ethyl alcohol for 5 min, followed by drying
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