Topographical microstructures were fabricated on alumina by epitaxial growth of Al4B2O9 whiskers in air. The products were characterized via scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The whiskers were found to grow along the [0 0 1] crystallographic direction, and the lattice mismatch between Al2O3 and Al4B2O9 was determined to be 0.03%. The wetting of the Al4B2O9-whisker-coated surfaces by Ag-36.7Cu-8.0Ti at.% alloy was studied. The time needed to reach the equilibrium stage reduced as the temperature increased, and the final contact angle for liquid alloy on the rough surface was 27 degrees at 880 degrees C. The wetting dynamics of the whiskers coated surfaces was investigated. After wetting, a whisker-interconnected region was formed between alumina and the alloy. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.