Inspired by the lotus leaf, various methods to fabricate artificial superhydrophobic surfaces have been developed. Our purpose is to create a simple, one-step and environment-friendly method to construct a superhydrophobic surface on a magnesium alloy substrate. The substrate was immersed in a solution containing ferric chloride (FeCl 3 ·6H 2 O), deionized water, tetradecanoic acid (CH 3 (CH 2 ) 12 COOH) and ethanol. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) were employed to characterize the substrate surface. The obtained surface showed a micron rough structure, a high contact angle (CA) of 165°±2° and desirable corrosion protection and antifouling properties.