Parallel Groove-Textured TB6 Titanium Alloy Surfaces for Improving Wettability, Tribological Properties and Corrosion Resistance

Abstract:

We proposed an efficient method to fabricate superhydrophobic, wear and corrosion resistant groove-textured surfaces based on TB6 (Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al) titanium alloy substrates. The smooth surface of the titanium alloy was ablated using a nanosecond laser to create a surface with a parallel groove pattern. In order to further improve the surface hydrophobicity, the laser treated surface was irradiated by an ultraviolet lamp for 1 h and subsequently immersed in a 3wt% octadecyltrichlorosilane solution for 2 h for chemical modification. The wettability of the groove-textured surfaces with varying groove spacing was investigated by analyzing surface morphology and chemical composition. Results show that the average coefficient of friction (COF) of the superhydrophobic surface is reduced by 34%, 56%, and 59% compared with that of the original hydrophilic surface under dry, water, and oil lubrication conditions, respectively. The mechanism variation of the CoF was also discussed. Potentiokinetic polarization testing demonstrates that the prepared superhydrophobic surface provides corrosion protection for the titanium alloy substrate.