Preparation of Superhydrophobic Surface Based on SiC Particulate Reinforced Composite

Micro- and nano-structures were prepared based on SiC particulate reinforced composite substrate using electrochemical etching process, and effects of current density and etching time on morphology characteristics and superhydrophobicity of the etched surfaces were investigated. The results show that a special hierarchical structure consisting of particle-shaped microstructures and nano-structrues (particle- or squama-shaped) is formed on the etched SiC/Al composite at the current density of 6 A/dm 2 , which keeps almost unchanged during etching period. Under optimized process conditions, superhydrophobic surface can be obtained, achieving a water contact angle of up to 160.7° and an extremely small tilting angle of 4°. All these data demonstrate that SiC/Al composite has poten- tial to be used as self-cleaning surface.