. FABRICATION AND OPTIMUM CONDITIONS OF A SUPERHYDROPHOBIC SURFACE USING A FACILE REDOX REACTION AND A SOLUTION-IMMERSION METHOD ON ZINC SUBSTRATES

A superhydrophobic surface on a zinc substrate was prepared with a simple and economic redox reaction and a solution-immersion method, and the fabrication procedures and conditions were optimized. The effects of the reactant concentrations, reaction time, modifier types, modifier concentrations and modification time on the fabrication of the superhydrophobic surface were systematically studied by analyzing the water contact angle (CA) and SEM results. The results show that an excellent superhydrophobic surface was prepared when zinc plates were immersed in a 0.01-M CuSO4 solution for 1 h and then modified with 5 % of mass fraction of lauric acid for 1 h. The water CA of the prepared surface was as high as 155.7 degrees. The surface structure and composition of the superhydrophobic surfaces were characterized with SEM and FT-IR. The results show that the surface structure consists of a small number of particles and petal-like structures, and the product exhibits a long alkyl chain with a low surface energy, which contributes to the formation of the surface superhydrophobicity.