Laser microstructuring for fabricating superhydrophobic polymeric surfaces

[Display omitted] ▶ Ultrashort laser pulses were used to microstructure a polymeric surface. ▶ Superhydrophobic surfaces were achieved with square-shaped pillars morphology. ▶The surface structuring method allows controlling the surface wetting properties. In this paper we show the fabrication of hydrophobic polymeric surfaces through laser microstructuring. By using 70-ps pulses from a Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser at 532nm, we were able to produce grooves with different width and separation, resulting in square-shaped pillar patterns. We investigate the dependence of the morphology on the surface static contact angle for water, showing that it is in agreement with the Cassie–Baxter model. We demonstrate the fabrication of a superhydrophobic polymeric surface, presenting a water contact angle of 157°. The surface structuring method presented here seems to be an interesting option to control the wetting properties of polymeric surfaces.