Attaining superhydrophobic and superoleophilic bronze surface by picosecond laser texturing and post-heat treatment

As a bearing material, bronze has high strength and hardness but is poor in anti-adhesion property. In this study, we propose a method to prepare a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic bronze surface by combining laser surface texturing and post-heat treatment. A picosecond laser was employed to produce pore arrays with varying spacings and depths on the bronze surface, which exhibited micro-nano hierarchical structures. A further post-heat treatment of the laser-textured sample at 150 °C in the ambient led to the formation of a superhydrophobic surface with a maximum water contact angle of 158° and with superoleophilicity. It was found that pore spacings played a significant role in forming the surface hierarchical structures, which were covered with the laser-ablated micro-nano particles. The pore depth, however, showed little influence on the surface wettability. Analysis of the surface chemical compositions by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates that the C element mainly exists in the form of the C–C(H) group, which reduces the surface energy and leads to superhydrophobicity. It was also verified that the wettability transition of the bronze surface before and after heating was independent of the oxide transition. Rubbing tests were conducted to evaluate the durability of the surface hierarchical structure. Anti-icing and self-cleaning functions were demonstrated showing the potential of the developed method for preparing a superhydrophobic and superoleophilic surface.