A superhydrophobic surface with chemical and long-time stability was fabricated on AZ31 magnesium alloy in a single-step via hydrothermal synthesis to improve corrosion resistance. The as-prepared surface repelled aqueous solutions with a static water contact angle of 156.7 • , and its superhydrophobicity was maintained for more than one year. The superhydrophobic surface showed anti-icing performance in a cold environment. The electrochemical measurement showed the superhydrophobic coating surface improved corrosion resistance for the Mg alloy substrate in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. In this study, we sought higher efficiency and environmental friendliness to enhance the prospects for application of magnesium alloys. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse of the work in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0801605jes] All rights reserved.Manuscript submitted December 10, 2015; revised manuscript received January 25, 2016. Published February 3, 2016 Magnesium alloys are among the lightest and most easily machined metals. Owing to their low density, good electromagnetic screening ability, high strength/weight ratio, low cost, machinability, recyclability and other advantages, Mg alloys are known as the green engineering material of the 21st century.1-3 They are used in many types of applications, such as in the automobile industry, biological materials, aerospace and aircraft fields, and electronic production. [4][5][6] The AZ31 Mg alloy is the most widely used industrial wrought Mg alloy due to its balance of properties and price; it is usually rolled into plate, squeezed into bars or processed by forging.7 However, Mg alloys have shortcomings that limit their application, including low standard potential, high chemical activity, ease of oxidation, low abrasion performance, and susceptibility to corrosion in humid environments. 8 The development of corrosion-resistant Mg alloys will enable a much wider range of applications based on these materials. So far, many approaches have been used for conferring corrosion resistance on magnesium alloy; for example, the control of metallurgical factors by increasing the purity of the alloy, 9 mixing with rare earth elements, 10 or the use of a rapid solidification processing have been investigated.11 Alternative approaches for facilitating corrosion-resistance performance include surface modification by laser processing, the deposition of a protective coating layer by a sol-gel route, anodic oxidation, electroplating and spraying oil paint.12-14 Recently, many studies have shown that superhydrophobic surfaces are effective for conferring corrosion resistance. [15][16][17][18] A solid surface is superhydrophobic if the contact angle (CA) of a water droplet on the surface is larger than 150• . [19][20][21][22] Recent studies have associated superhydrop...