A novel fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces for universal applicability

The present work reports a novel and facile approach to fabricate stable superhydrophobic surfaces for universal applicability in practice. Poly(furfuryl alcohol)/copper composite coatings were prepared on substrates via a brush-painting method; after being immersed in a stearic acid solution, the superhydrophobic surfaces were obtained due to the formation of copper stearate on the substrates. These products were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray powder diffraction and the X-ray photoelectron spectrum. Results demonstrate that the superhydrophobic surfaces formed originally on copper substrates can also be generated on other substrates without the copper element. Furthermore, this work will provide a simple and universal method to create large-scale superhydrophobic surfaces on various substrates.