Laser-induced Superhydrophobic and Oleophobic Surface Structures on Float Glass

The non-linear energy deposition associated with ultrafast laser processing enables us to create sub-wavelength nanostructures on a variety of materials; therefore, ultrafast laser processing is proved to be a versatile tool for the generation of surface functionalities such as superhydrophobic and self-cleaning surfaces. Float glass is an important material used in automobile for the windshields and mirrors. Windshields with functional properties like self-cleaning without compromising the transparency and bulk material properties is a tough challenge. In this direction, a successful attempt has been made by creating laser-induced surface structures on the float glass surface without reducing the transparency by picosecond laser processing. The initiation and growth of laser-induced surface structures have been studied with respect to number of pulses applied to the spot and the variation of density of the nanostructures by a spatial shift of laser beam. The wetting property evaluation was found to be superhydrophobic and oleophobic.