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We present a method to fabricate a super-hydrophobic surface with a self-healing ability on an aluminium alloy substrate. The coatings are obtained by combining a two-step process (first, the substrate is immersed in a solution of HCl, HF and H2O, and then in boiling water) and succeeding surface fluorination with a solution of poly(vinylidene-fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) and a fluoroalkyl silane. The morphological features and chemical composition were studied by scanning electron micrometry and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The prepared super-hydrophobic aluminium surfaces showed hierarchical structures forming pores, petals and particles with a contact angle of 161° and a sliding angle of 3°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present a method of fabricating super-hydrophobic surface on aluminum alloy substrate. The etching of aluminum surfaces has been performed using Beck's dislocation etchant for different time to create micrometer-sized irregular steps. An optimised etching time of 50 s is found to be essential before polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coating, to obtain a highest water contact angle of 165±2° with a lowest contact angle hysteresis as low as 5±2°. The presence of patterned microstructure as revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) together with the low surface energy ultrathin RF-sputtered PTFE films renders the aluminum alloy surfaces highly super-hydrophobic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]