PREPARATIONS AND CHARACTERIZATIONS OF SUPER-HYDROPHOBIC SURFACES ON Al ALLOYS AND THEIR ANTI-ICING PROPERTIES

A low-cost and simple methodology is successfully developed for the preparation of super-hydrophobic surfaces on Al alloys by a facile hydrothermal reaction method at 60 degrees C after a simple chemical modification. Using such a robust method, a relatively large contact angle of 167 degrees and a small roll angle of 3 degrees can be achieved. The icing behavior of the surfaces was investigated in -10 degrees C environment. It is found that such super-hydrophobic surfaces exhibit remarkable anti-icing characteristics. In particular, the icing time on the surfaces can be delayed considerably. Therefore, our study suggests that the present methodology and the prepared super-hydrophobic surfaces could be applied in various engineering fields.