Fabrication of superhydrophobic metallic surface on the electrical discharge machining basement

Fabrication of superhydrophobic surface (SHS) on metal can effectively enhance its utility value. Herein, electrochemical etching for the electrical discharge machining (EDM) surface of beryllium copper (Be-Cu) alloy is carried out in the hydrochloric acid electrolyte, to obtain a hierarchical micro-nanostructure. After modification by stearic acid, the contact angle is up to 167.1 ± 2.6° and the sliding angle to 2.4 ± 0.7°. The microstructure constructed by EDM improves the quality of the SHS availably. The corrosion and abrasion resistance tests show that the performance is significantly higher than that without EDM. EDM can be used as a pretreatment process for the fabrication of SHS. It can also be applied to the EDM functional unit of parts to achieve specific functions. In addition, EDM for hole, the inner wall of the superhydrophobic hole was obtained, confirmed the excellent self-cleaning performance. This method has a good application prospect in the fabrication of SHS of metallic engineering materials.