Superhydrophobic and colorful copper surfaces fabricated by picosecond laser induced periodic nanostructures

In this study, functional copper surfaces combined with vivid structural colors and superhydrophobicity were fabricated by picosecond laser. Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS), i.e. ripples, were fabricated by picosecond laser nanostructuring to induce rainbow-like structural colors which are uniquely caused by the grating - type structure. The effects of laser processing parameters on the formation of ripples were investigated. We also discussed the formation mechanism of ripples. With different combinations of the laser processing parameters, ripples with various morphologies were fabricated. After the modification with triethoxyoctylsilane, different types of ripples exhibited different levels of wettability. The fine ripples with minimal redeposited nanoparticles exhibited high adhesive force to water. The increased amount of nanoscale structures decreased the adhesive force to water and increased the contact angle simultaneously. In particular, a specific type of ripples exhibited superhydrophobicity with a large contact angle of 153.9 ± 3.2° and a low sliding angle of 11 ± 3°.