Preparation and properties of superhydrophobic aluminum alloy via chemical-electrochemical synergistic etching

doi:10.11949/0438-1157.20250678

Abstract

Abstract:

To address the stability needs of aluminum alloys in extreme environments, this study proposes a green chemical-electrochemical etching technique with stearic acid in-situ modification. A micro-nano structure on 6061 Al alloy achieves 165° contact angle(CA) and 3° sliding angle(SA). It proved exceptional self-cleaning performance in air and oil. The icing time of the superhydrophobic alloy is prolonged to 384.19 s (vs 12.85 s for the untreated alloy), showing superior environmental stability. CA of superhydrophobic alloy still over 160° after ultrasonic vibration (40 Hz, 80 min), boiling water immersion (1.5 h), linear abrasion (400 cm distance) tests, as well as retained CA of 152°after sand impact test (200 g falling sand), showing the excellent mechanical durability.

Key words: superhydrophobic aluminum alloy, electrochemistry, anti-icing performance, corrosion, mechanical property

摘要：

针对超疏水铝合金在苛刻环境应用的稳定性需求，提出一种化学-电化学协同刻蚀结合硬脂酸原位修饰的制备工艺。采用该工艺在6061铝合金上构建了微纳结构，实现接触角为165°、滚动角为3°的超疏水特性。该超疏水铝合金在空气和油中均具有优异的自清洁性能，在低温环境下超疏水铝合金的结冰时间为384.19 s（对照组12.85 s），表现出良好的环境稳定性及防覆冰特性；在超声（40 Hz）振动80 min、沸水中处理1.5 h、线性磨损（400 cm）后的接触角仍大于160°，落砂（200 g）冲击后接触角为152°，表明该超疏水铝合金具有优异的机械耐久性。

关键词: 超疏水铝合金, 电化学, 防覆冰性能, 腐蚀, 力学性能

CLC Number:

TQ 028.8

Bin ZHAO, Jing LIAO, Yanjie REN, Junchen ZHOU, Yan LI. Preparation and properties of superhydrophobic aluminum alloy via chemical-electrochemical synergistic etching[J]. CIESC Journal, 2025, 76(11): 6008-6017.

赵斌, 廖静, 任延杰, 周俊臣, 李岩. 化学-电化学协同刻蚀制备超疏水铝合金及其性能研究[J]. 化工学报, 2025, 76(11): 6008-6017.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig.1 Schematic illustration of superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surface preparation process

Fig.2 Schematic diagram of sand drop impact (a) and linear wear (b) test

Fig.3 Micrographs of the aluminium alloy surface before and after chemical-electrochemical treatment

Fig.4 XPS spectra of the surperhydrophobic aluminium alloy surface

Fig. 5 Adhesion behavior of water droplets on the surface: (a) untreated aluminum alloy; (b) superhydrophobically treated aluminum alloy

Fig. 6 Icing behavior of aluminum alloys before and after treatments: (a) untreated aluminum alloy; (b) superhydrophobic aluminum alloy

Fig.7 Optical images of water droplet freezing on untreated aluminum alloy (a) and superhydrophobic aluminum alloy (b) surfaces

Fig.8 Potentiodynamic polarization curves of the as-received aluminum alloy substrate and the superhydrophobic aluminium alloy surface in 3.5%(mass) NaCl aqueous solution

Fig. 9 Self-cleaning experiments of superhydrophobic aluminum alloy in air (a), oil (b), milk (c), methyl blue solution (d) and fruit juice (e)

Fig. 10 Mechanical stability of the superhydrophobic aluminum alloy under different conditions: (a) ultrasonic vibration; (b) boiling water; (c) sand impact; (d) linear abrasion

Table 1 Comparison of linear wear resistance and sand drop wear resistance of superhydrophobic aluminum alloys prepared in this paper with those in literatures

材料	载荷/kPa	磨损距离/cm	落砂质量/g	测试前接触角/(°)	测试后接触角/(°)
超疏水6061铝合金^[33]	1	60	—	161	155
超疏水5083铝合金^[34]	4.9	480	—	165	146
超疏水2024铝合金^[35]	4.9	100	—	160	147
超疏水锌镀层^[36]	3	200	—	158	142
无氟超疏水涂层^[37]	—	—	120	156	154
超疏水聚合物涂层^[38]	—	—	30	176	148
本文中的超疏水6061铝合金	4.9	400	—	165	162
	—	—	200	165	152

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