Stable biomimetic film on Fe3Al surface for corrosion resistance in seawater

Stable superhydrophobic n-tetradecanoic acid (CH3(CH2)14COOH) film was prepared by means of sol-gel and self-assembly techniques, with a very high seawater contact angle (158°) and a small sliding angle (<5°). There are many microconvexities with binary structure uniformly distributed on the surface atop the film with an average diameter of about 80 nm by observation of scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the film surface structure is similar to that of lotus surface. The corrosion resistance behavior of intermetallic Fe3Al with the biomimetic superhydrophobic film surface is improved obviously when compared with pure Fe3Al sample by measurement of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).