Surface Modification of Polystyrene by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation

In this paper, the effect of laser fluence on polystyrene (PS) surface wettability was investigated. It was found that the PS surface could be modified into highly hydrophilic with water contact angle (WCA) of 12.7 degrees from the original WCA of 88.2 degrees with micro-pits created on the surface. It was also found that the laser texturing process had a negligible effect on the transparency of the laser textured PS substrate probably due to the shallow surface structure created. The effect of various laser parameters on the micro-pits structures was investigated. The correlation between the surface water contact angle and the micro-pits structures has been attempted.