Preparation of superhydrophobic nanoplate iron oxide surface on a carbon steel for anti-wetting applications

Highlights: • The fabrication technique of superhydrophobic surface on a carbon steel is described. • The (3 1 1) facet of Fe₃O₄ nanoplate is fabricated via oxidation with high stability. • The water slide angle close to 0° and ultra-low surface adhesion are realized. • Such excellent anti-wetting performance is also verified by molecular dynamic simulation. • The surface shows excellent performance in anti-corrosion, anti-icing, and self-cleaning. A simple route to fabricate a surface layer comprising Fe₃O₄ nanoplates on a carbon steel has been successfully demonstrated using etching treatment followed by annealing in oxygen atmosphere. Different sizes of the Fe₃O₄ (3 1 1) exposed nanoplates can be fabricated by varying the annealing temperature. Density Function Theory (DFT) calculation proved that the energy of Fe₃O₄ (3 1 1) surface was the lowest among all exposed facets, which make it most stable. The superhydrophobicity has been realized after modification with trimethoxy silane (HFTMS). Molecular dynamic simulation was further carried out to verify the excellent anti-wettability of the modified surface. In addition, the superhydrophobic surface exhibited a low adhesion with water and displays excellent performance in anti-corrosion, anti-icing and self-cleaning.