S.M. Mirmohammadi; M. Heikkila; L. Fieber; M. Awashra; S. Hamed; S. Bhusare; G. Mohanty; R.H. Ras; V. Jokinen; S
Materials & Interfaces 17 (2025) 65242–65252
Superhydrophobic surfaces hold great promise for various engineering
applications. However, their fragility and limited durability in real-world scenarios pose
significant challenges. Here, a durable superhydrophobic and icephobic surface is
fabricated using the metal-assisted chemical etching method to create silicon nanowires
within inverted pyramidal microstructures. Mechanical robustness is introduced by
applying a hard coating to the structure through titanium film deposition, followed by
annealing in a nitrogen atmosphere, which forms titanium silicide and titanium nitride.
The hard-coated surfaces can endure up to 60 g of sand abrasion or 20 icing−shearing
cycles while still retaining their superhydrophobic properties (advancing and receding
contact angles of approximately 150°) and icephobic properties (ice adhesion strength of approximately 10 kPa).