Roughness effect for tunable wetting surfaces on metallic substrate
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture
Published online on June 23, 2016
Abstract
A facile process for controllable fabrication of wetting surfaces with variable hierarchical structures on metallic substrates is proposed in this study. This process, which combines the through-mask electrochemical micromachining with hydrothermal growth method, could be applied on all kinds of type and size of conductive metal. First, the anodic dissolution process is predicted using numerical simulation and experiments. The formulation of electrolyte and the etching conditions in through-mask electrochemical micromachining are optimized. Ordered microstructures and smooth etched surface in large scale are obtained using the optimized parameters. Moreover, a technology has been explored to obtain various styles of multi-level structures through an alignment system or combining with a hydrothermal method of growing ZnO nanorods. The wetting effects of the rough three-dimensional surfaces are evaluated using a contact angle system. Furthermore, the wetting and the preliminary friction reduction effects of the rough three-dimensional surfaces are evaluated using contact angle system.