One-step preparation of hydrophobic surface of cemented carbide by ethanol-assisted laser

To prepare hydrophobic textured surface on YT15 cemented carbide blade by one-step method. Texture was prepared on YT15 cemented carbide blade by fiber laser marking machine in static anhydrous ethanol environment. The effect of processing environment and laser parameters on texture surface wettability was analyzed based on texture surface morphology and chemical composition. Results show that the texture surface prepared by ethanol assisted laser showed hydrophobic properties, and the hydrophobic angle was affected by laser parameters. With the increase of laser power, the contact angle of textured surface increases. The contact angle is 112.5° to 126.9° in the range of 12~ 20 W. With the increase of laser scanning speed, the contact angle of textured surface decreases. When the scanning speed is 0.5~2.5 mm/s, the contact angle is 118.3° to 125.7°. When the laser parameters are processing times=1, laser frequency=200 kHz, scanning speed=1 mm/s and power=20 W, the contact angle of textured surface is the largest, which is 126.9°. In the environment of absolute ethanol, a new type of ring convex micro nano texture was prepared on YT15 blade by laser technology. Compared with the non textured surface, C atoms increased significantly, and the texture surface showed hydrophobic characteristics. The contact angle of textured surface was related to the texture morphology. The higher the ring convex texture density was, the greater the contact angle was. The density of ring convex texture was affected by laser parameters. The surface wettability is determined by texture morphology and surface chemical composition. © 2021, Chongqing Wujiu Periodicals Press. All rights reserved.