Rapid surface texturing to achieve robust superhydrophobicity, controllable droplet impact, and anti-frosting performances

• Published in: Friction Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 291 - 304
• Main Authors: Dai, Qingwen, Chen, Lei, Pan, Jiabao, Shi, Liping, Liu, Dameng, Huang, Wei, Wang, Xiaolei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Tsinghua University Press 01.02.2024; Springer Nature B.V; College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,Nanjing University of Aeronautics&Astronautics,Nanjing 210016,China%School of Mechanical Engineering,Anhui Polytechnic University,Wuhu 241000,China%School of Mechanical Engineering,Anhui University of Technology,Ma'anshan 243032,China%State Key Laboratory of Tribology in Advanced Equipment,Department of Mechanical Engineering,Tsinghua University,Beijing 100084,China; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: anti-frosting; Contact angle; Controllability; Corrosion and Coatings; Curing; Design; Design optimization; droplet impact; Droplets; Engineering; Friction; Heat resistance; Hydrophobic surfaces; Hydrophobicity; Laser etching; Mechanical components; Mechanical Engineering; Mechanical systems; Morphology; Nanotechnology; Physical Chemistry; Polyurethane resins; Research Article; Robust control; robust superhydrophobic; Scanning electron microscopy; Surface layers; surface texture; Surfaces and Interfaces; Texturing; Thin Films; Titanium alloys; Titanium base alloys; Tribology; Wear resistance; wear-resistant; surface texture; wear-resistant; robust superhydrophobic; anti-frosting; droplet impact
• ISSN: 2223-7690; 2223-7704
• DOI: 10.1007/s40544-023-0757-3

Robust superhydrophobic surfaces with excellent capacities of repelling water and anti-frosting are of importance for many mechanical components. In this work, wear-resistant superhydrophobic surfaces were fabricated by curing a mixture of polyurethane acrylate (PUA) coating and 1H,1H,2H,2H-Perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (HFTCS) on titanium alloy (TC4) surfaces decorated with micropillars pattern, thus, composite functional surfaces with PUA coating in the valleys around the micropillars pattern of TC4 were achieved. Apparent contact angle on fabricated surfaces could reach 167°. Influences of the geometric parameters of micropillars pattern on the apparent contact angle were investigated, and the corresponding wear-resistant property was compared. Droplet impact and anti-frosting performances on the prepared surfaces were highlighted. An optimized design of surface texture with robust superhydrophobicity, controllable droplet impact, and anti-frosting performances was proposed. This design principle is of promising prospects for fabricating superhydrophobic surfaces in traditional mechanical systems.