Fabrication of biomimetic hydrophobic patterned graphene surface with ecofriendly anti-corrosion properties for Al alloy

Inspired by typical creature living surface with hydrophobicity, the hydrophobic graphene surface was successfully achieved on aluminium alloy substrate by a novel route. It is composed of two steps: biomimetic microstructure processing (BMP) on substrate and then preparation-transfer process of graphene via chemical vapor decomposition (CVD). The surface structure morphology, wettability and anti-corrosion were systematically investigated. It was found that the static water contact angle for the as-prepared surface was as high as 130.8   ±   1°, demonstrating that the hydrophobic surface is formed on aluminium alloy substrate. It can be interpreted by the synergistic effect between BMP and CVD methods in constructing the biomimetic and hydrophobic graphene surface. Besides, the anti-corrosion property of Al alloy was improved by forming CVD-grown graphene coating on the substrates according to the results of electrochemical corrosion experiments. The synergistic method was not only applied to fabricate hydrophobic graphene film but also provided a versatile route in multifunctional graphene film suited in wide application.