Hybrid Nanosecond Laser Processing and Heat Treatment for Rapid Preparation of Super-Hydrophobic Copper Surface

Linxu Ma,Jian Guo,Cui Deng,Pranav Shrotriya,Chengying Li,Jingnan Zhao,Lina Wang

doi:10.3390/met9060668

Abstract

The super-hydrophobic copper surface was obtained by using a nanosecond pulsed laser. Different micro- and nano-structures were fabricated by changing the laser scanning interval and scanning speed, before heating in an electric heater at 150 °C for two hours to explore the effect of laser parameters and heat treatment on the wettability of the copper surface. It was found that the laser-treated copper surface is super-hydrophilic, and then, after the heat treatment, the surface switches to hydrophobic or even super-hydrophobic. The best super-hydrophobic surface’s apparent contact angle (APCA) was 155.6°, and the water sliding angle (WSA) was 4°. Super-hydrophobic copper is corrosion-resistant, self-cleaning, and dust-proof, and can be widely used in various mechanical devices.

Highlights

Bionics is the application of biological methods found in nature to the study and design of industry materials and advanced technologies
Wettability can be measured by apparent contact angle (APCA), which is the angle between the outline of the liquid surface and the contact material surface [1,2]
It is well known that most metal oxides are polar, and copper oxide has a large number of polar sites on its surface, forming a hydrophilic surface

Summary

Introduction

Bionics is the application of biological methods found in nature to the study and design of industry materials and advanced technologies. This paper focuses on the super-hydrophobic phenomenon (wettability). Wettability can be measured by apparent contact angle (APCA), which is the angle between the outline of the liquid (water in this case) surface and the contact material surface (solid surface typically) [1,2]. A super-hydrophobic surface refers to an APCA greater than 150◦ , and a water sliding angle (WSA) less than 10◦ (low contact-angle hysteresis). It is waterproof and self-cleaning; it is an interesting phenomenon in nature, and of great scientific interest. The super-hydrophobic phenomenon was widely used in environmental purification, food packaging, medical devices, etc. The super-hydrophobic phenomenon was widely used in environmental purification, food packaging, medical devices, etc. [2,3,4,5,6,7]

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Conclusion