TA15 titanium alloy is a metal material widely applied in aerospace and aviation. Superhydrophobic surfaces prepared with TA15 titanium alloy can effectively suppress icing and frosting in aircraft at high altitudes, however, the microstructure of superhydrophobic surfaces is prone to lose of efficacy in wear. To improve wear resistance of superhydrophobic TA15 surfaces, an insulation mesh with predetermined pattern was attached to the base metal by a dry-firm photoresist to set off an electrochemical reaction on the metal surface without an insulation coating, forming a superhydrophobic surface in topology. In electrolyte of 0.2 mol/L NaBr solution, TA15 was electrochemically machined using a square mask with an electrical machining parameter of 0.8 A/cm2 for 12 minutes as its surface was superhydrophobic. The worn surface upwards of 1,200 cm maintained superhydrophobic at contact angle of 150.1o and rolling angle of 21.3o. The EDS maps and SEM images of electrochemically machined TA15 titanium alloy surface showed that the use of a dry-film photoresist mask could effectively improve the wear resistance of the superhydrophobic surface, while the structure generated from mask electrolysis did not damage the hydrophobicity of the original surface. The test showed that the superhydrophobic surface had good self-cleaning and anti-adhesion properties.
Experimental study on wear-resistant superhydrophobic surface of TA15 titanium alloy prepared by mask electrolysis. Journal of Shenyang Aerospace University. 2022, 39(6): 29-39