Fabrication of biomimetic superhydrophobic surface on engineering materials by a simple electroless galvanic deposition method

Abstract

We have reported an easy means in this paper to imitate the "lotus leaf" by constructing a superhydrophobic surface through a process combining both electroless galvanic deposition and self-assembly of n-octadecanethiol. Superhydrophobicity with a static water contact angle of about 169 +/- 2 degrees and a sliding angle of 0 +/- 2 degrees was achieved. Both the surface chemical compositions and morphological structures were analyzed. We have obtained a feather-like surface structure, and the thickness of the Ag film is about 10-30 microm. The stability of the superhydrophobic surface was tested under the following three conditions: (1) pH value from 1 to 13; (2) after freezing treatment at -20 degrees C; (3) at ambient temperature. It shows a notable stability in that the contact angle of the sample still remained higher than 150 degrees in different conditions. It can be concluded that our approach can provide an alternative way to fabricate stable superhydrophobic materials.