A novel and facile fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces on copper substrate via machined operation

Practical application of superhydrophobic surfaces is often hampered by the sophisticated facilities, complex process, expensive cost and harmful solvents etc. This paper reports a novel method to prepare a superhydrophobic surface via machine operation and chemical modification. Superhydrophobic copper surfaces are obtained by machine cutting using 60 thread cutters followed by modification using stearic acid solution. The surface morphologies, chemical composition and wettability were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and water contact angle measurement. The as-prepared surface displays good superhydrophobic property. The formation mechanism of the microstructure is proposed. The rough surface depends on the cutter shape and feed rate provided. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.