In this work, it has been demonstrated that for hydrophilic materials, like SiC, etc., superhydrophobicity can be achieved by coating them with a material like Au/Pd with surface adsorbed organic contaminants, rather than modifying them by fluoropolymers as is usually done. Dense and randomly aligned 3C-SiC nanorods were grown in a cold-wall APCVD reactor using Ni as a catalyst which formed a network of micro/nano air pockets and exhibited superhydrophobic behavior when modified by an Au/Pd metal alloy coating by forming hierarchical nanostructures with surface adsorbed organic contaminants. A high water contact angle (160 degrees), very low sliding angle (<5 degrees), rebounding and a rubber ball-like behavior of a water droplet were observed on such a metal (Au/Pd) modified surface of 3C-SiC nanorods. The durability of the surface and reproducibility of the results was checked over a period of about 14 months under ambient atmosphere at room temperature, which demonstrates the long term stability of these superhydrophobic surfaces. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.