A novel fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces on aluminium substrate by picosecond pulsed laser

Superhydrophobic surfaces have emerged because of their unique properties like corrosion resistance, self-cleaning, anti-icing and being anti-bacterial. A simplistic and highly effective ultra-fast laser technology was used to fabricate superhydrophobic surface on aluminum substrate. Compared to other laser systems, picosecond laser systems have smaller thermal affected area on the aluminum substrate. They also offer high efficiency, not as much of waste materials and cover enormous areas for mass production. Tilted groove patterns of various angles with respect to horizontal were textured on the substrate by using picosecond laser pulses. The laser parameters, such as hatching distance (HD) and scanning speed (SS), can be varied by keeping the laser power as constant for the various tilted angle of the groove pattern. The textured surfaces were initially super hydrophilic when kept in polyethylene zip lock cover and which also exhibits super hydrophobicity of maximum 155.5 degrees when observed after 15 days. The morphology of surface was characterized by scanning electron microscope, EDX and X-ray diffraction.