A superhydrophobic surface is formed by growing a plurality of etchable, sacrificial structures, and depositing a discontinuous hydrophobic material onto the sacrificial structures. The discontinuity facilitates etching of the sacrificial structures to remove the grown structures while leaving the deposited material intact to result in surface features for achieving superior hydrophobic properties.

A method for bonding a polymeric fill material onto a surface of a substrate is described, and includes exposing the surface of the substrate to a microwave-generated argon-hydrogen plasma for a predetermined time period, applying, via a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition process, a SiOx surface coating onto the surface of the substrate, and executing a post-treatment process to the SiOx surface coating. The polymeric fill material may be applied onto the substrate and subjected to curing.

Provided herein is a film and methods of producing the same. The film includes a substrate and a layer adjacent to the substrate, wherein a surface of the layer comprises spaced apart protrusions. The methods include providing a substrate, depositing a layer on at least a portion of the substrate, decomposing the layer to form at least a first phase of material and a second phase of material, and removing at least a portion of the second phase from the decomposed layer to form a structured layer.

In at least one example, a composition for surface activation of an aerospace vehicle consists essentially of an organic solvent present in an amount from about 95 to about 99.5 volume percent, a transition metal alkoxide present in an amount from about 0.5 to about 5 volume percent, and a water content in an amount from about 0 to about 5 volume percent. In at least one example, a method of sealing a surface of an aerospace vehicle includes applying the composition to a surface of an aerospace vehicle. The composition applied to the surface is dried to form a transition metal oxide from the transition metal alkoxide. Excess of the transition metal oxide is removed from the surface. A sealant is applied over a remaining layer of the transition metal oxide on the surface.

A water/oil repellent layer-provided article, containing a substrate, a water/oil repellent layer containing a hydrolyzed condensate of a fluorinated compound having a hydrolyzable silyl group, and a silicon oxide layer containing alkali metal atoms, present between the substrate and the water/oil repellent layer, where in the silicon oxide layer, the average concentration of the alkali metal atoms in a region with a depth from the surface in contact with the water/oil repellent layer of at least 0.1 nm and at most 0.3 nm, is at least 2.010.sup.19 atoms/cm.sup.3.

The invention relates to the use of a carbonaceous coating for protection of a passive electrical component from attack by ammonia, wherein the carbonaceous coating is a sol-gel coating or a plasma-polymeric coating. This coating comprises a particular carbon content.

A water/oil repellent layer-provided article, containing a substrate, a water/oil repellent layer containing a hydrolyzed condensate of a fluorinated compound having a hydrolyzable silyl group, and a silicon oxide layer containing alkali metal atoms, present between the substrate and the water/oil repellent layer, where in the silicon oxide layer, the average concentration of the alkali metal atoms in a region with a depth from the surface in contact with the water/oil repellent layer of at least 0.1 nm and at most 0.3 nm, is at least 2.010.sup.19 atoms/cm.sup.3.

Disclosed is a method of fabricating an aluminum alloy member for bonding different materials. The method may include etching the aluminum alloy member with one or more etching solutions, and forming one or more undercuts on a surface of the aluminum alloy member.

Methods for forming a hole in a coated component are provided. The method may include forming a sacrificial layer over a ceramic barrier coating of a substrate, drilling a hole into the coated component such that any spatter formed during drilling deposits onto the sacrificial layer, and removing the sacrificial layer along with the spatter deposited thereon. The sacrificial layer may include a rare earth oxide (e.g., rare earth oxide particles). Intermediate ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component are also provided. The intermediate CMC may include a CMC body, an environmental barrier coating on the bond coating, and a sacrificial layer on the environmental barrier coating, with the sacrificial layer including particles of a rare earth oxide dispersed in a polymeric matrix.

The invention relates generally to liquid-repellent coatings, and in particular, to porous liquid-repellent coatings, a method of preparing the porous liquid-repellent coatings, and a method of characterizing a porous surface for the liquid-repellent coatings. The invention further relates to a porous liquid-repellent coating comprising a porous layer of a transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide and a layer of a liquid-repellent compound deposited onto the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide, wherein the porous layer of the transition metal oxide and/or hydroxide is comprised of a plurality of surface pores of varying angles with an average angle that is re-entrant.