Superhydrophobic surfaces fabricated by surface modification of alumina particles

The fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces has attracted intense interest because of their widespread potential applications in various industrial fields. Recently, some attempts have been carried out to prepare superhydrophobic surfaces using metal oxide nanoparticles. In the present work, superhydrophobic surfaces were fabricated with low surface energy material on alumina particles with different sizes. It was found that particle size of alumina is an important factor in achieving stable superhydrophobic surface. It was possible to obtain alumina surface with water contact angle (WCA) of 156 degrees and a sliding angle of <2.degrees Superhydrophobicity of the modified alumina is attributed to the combined effect of the micronanostructure and low surface energy of fatty acid on the surface. The surface morphology of the alumina powder and coatings was determined by FESEM. The stability of the coatings was assessed by conducting water immersion test. Effect of heat treatment on WCA of the coating was also studied. The transition of alumina from hydrophilic to superhydrophobic state was explained using Wenzel and Cassie models. The method is shown to have potential application for creating superhydrophobic surface on cotton fabrics. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.