Fabrication of superhydrophobic aluminium alloy surface with excellent corrosion resistance by a facile and environment-friendly method

The superhydrophobic surface with excellent corrosion resistance takes on a micro- and nanoscale hierarchical rough structure with lots of 3D flower-like clusters growing on the nanoporous substrate. •A novel method for fabricating the superhydrophobic surface is developed.•The process of superhydrophobic surface fabrication is environment-friendly.•The superhydrophobic aluminum alloy surface has the excellent corrosion resistance.•The superhydrophobic surface is quite stable for long-term. This work develops a facile and environment-friendly method for preparing the superhydrophobic aluminium alloy surface with excellent corrosion resistance. The superhydrophobic aluminium alloy surface is fabricated by the boiling water treatment and stearic acid (STA) modification. Results show that the boiling water treatment endows the aluminium alloy surface with a porous and rough structure, while STA modification chemically grafts the long hydrophobic alkyl chains onto the aluminium alloy surface. Just grounded on the micro- and nano-scale hierarchical structure along with the hydrophobic chemical composition, the superhydrophobic aluminium alloy surface is endued the excellent corrosion resistance.