Fabrication of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass surface with extreme wettability

Siming Xiaoa Hongju Zhangb Shengfeng Guoa

Abstract

Unlike the high surface energy of traditional metallic materials, metallic glass with amorphous structure have a lower surface energy with a different wettability of solid surfaces. In this work, the micro-nano hierarchical structures were constructed on the Zr55Cu30Ni5Al10bulk metallic glass (BMG) surface by electrochemical corrosion and then modified with stearic acid to form both superhydrophobic and superlipophilic surfaces. After the optimized modification conditions, the water contact angle was as high as 169.6 ± 3.5° with a low water sliding angle of 5° and the contact angle of oil on the alloy surface was 5°, respectively. The present work would open a window for the application of bulk metallic glasses in nondestructive liquid transportation and oil-water separation.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022309320301186