Femtosecond laser irradiation of metallic surfaces: effects of laser parameters on superhydrophobicity

This work studies in detail the effect of femtosecond laser irradiation process parameters (fluence and scanning speed) on the hydrophobicity of the resulting micro/nano-patterned morphologies on stainless steel. Depending on the laser parameters, four distinctly different nano-patterns were produced, namely nano-rippled, parabolic-pillared, elongated sinusoidal-pillared and triple roughness nano-structures. All of the produced structures were classified according to a newly defined parameter, the laser intensity factor (LIF); by increasing the LIF, the ablation rate and periodicity of the asperities increase. In order to decrease the surface energy, all of the surfaces were coated with a fluoroalkylsilane agent. Analysis of the wettability revealed enhanced superhydrophobicity for most of these structures, particularly those possessing the triple roughness pattern that also exhibited low contact angle hysteresis. The high permanent superhydrophobicity of this pattern is due to the special micro/nano-structure of the surface that facilitates the Cassie–Baxter state.