Morphological effect governed by sandblasting and anodic surface reforming on the super-hydrophobicity of AISI 304 stainless steel

Abstract Super-hydrophobicity, enabling self-cleaning and antifouling capability, has attracted intensive researches by using different surface techniques. To achieve super-hydrophobicity on metal surfaces, morphological control of the surface shares equal importance with surface energy control. This study aims to develop a micro/nano coexisted surface morphology presenting super-hydrophobicity on an AISI 304 stainless steel, which was previously prepared by sandblasting and anodic reforming followed by a plasma treatment. By proper choice of the sand material, micrometer-scale morphology was shaped by sandblasting. Meanwhile, the nanometer-scale sub-feature can be reformed through the use of anodic electrochemical treatment, where the alkali electrolyte concentration, discharge voltage, and processing time were carefully controlled. By doing so, super-hydrophobicity perform well on AISI 304 stainless steel after Steel Wool test.