Superhydrophobic Fe-based amorphous alloy coatings with excellent anti-fouling and anti-corrosion properties by picosecond laser texturing

Abstract

• Superhydrophobicity Fe-based amorphous coatings with excellent anti-fouling and anti-corrosion were prepared by picosecond laser texturing and surface chemical modification. • The superhydrophobicity originated from the formation of micro-nano hierarchical structures and the grafting of organic compounds with low surface free energy on the LT fabricated surfaces. • The corrosion resistance of laser-textured coating surfaces exhibited much improved electrochemical corrosion resistance in 3.5 wt% NaCl, comparing to the one of original coating surfaces . Producing superhydrophobic surfaces on the amorphous alloy coatings with excellent anti-corrosion and anti-fouling properties offers a promising strategy to broaden the applications of amorphous alloys in marine fields. In this work, the superhydrophobic surfaces on the Fe-based amorphous alloy coatings with micro-nano hierarchical structures were fabricated using picosecond pulsed laser texturing (LT) and surface chemical modification. The fabricated superhydrophobic coating surfaces have achieved a maximum contact angle of 166.5°and a minimum sliding angle of 3.6°. Additionally, these produced coatings also demonstrate outstanding self-cleaning and anti-fouling properties for preventing surface contamination. The superhydrophobicity originated from the formation of micro-nano hierarchical structures and the grafting of organic compounds with low surface free energy on the LT fabricated surfaces. The changes in wettability were attributed to the differences in the solid–liquid interfacial area fractions. The electrochemistry tests revealed that the corrosion resistance of the produced coatings with superhydrophobic surfaces had improved considerably compared with the as-sprayed amorphous alloy coatings, which could broaden the functional applications of the Fe-based amorphous alloy coatings.