No abstract

A superhydrophobic and icephobic surface were investigated on aluminum alloy substrate.Anodizing was used first to create a micro-nano structured aluminum oxide underlayer on the alloy substrate. In a second step, the rough surface was coated with RF-sputtered polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE or Teflon®). Scanning electron microscopy images showed a "bird's nest"-like structure on the anodized surface. The RF-sputtered PTFE coating exhibited a high static contact angle of ~ 165º with a very low contact angle hysteresis of ~ 3º. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results showed high quantities of CF 3 and CF 2 groups, which are responsible for the hydrophobic behavior of the coatings. The performance of this superhydrophobic film was studied under atmospheric icing conditions. These results showed that on superhydrophobic surfaces ice adhesion strength was 3.5 times lower than on the polished aluminum substrate.