Robust hydrophobic Fe-based amorphous coating by thermal spraying

Metallic surface is intrinsically hydrophilic due to its high surface energy. In this work, we present a different picture that highly hydrophobic metallic coatings could be directly fabricated by thermal spraying of Fe-based amorphous powders through the surface roughness control. These hydrophobic coatings are amorphous, exhibiting super-high hardness and excellent corrosion resistance. With low surface energy modification, the coatings become superhydrophobic and exhibit clearly self-cleaning effect. The present work opens a window for the applications of the amorphous coatings. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4754140]