Achieving superhydrophobicity of the FeCoCrMnNi surface via synergistic laser texturing and low temperature annealing

Superhydrophobic surfaces are highly desirable due to their remarkable water-repellent behavior. Laser texturing with subsequent low surface energy modification is a versatile strategy for creating such surfaces. In this study, via synergistic laser texturing and low temperature annealing, superhydrophobicity was first attempted to be achieved on the FeCoCrMnNi surface. By optimizing the laser parameters, the arrays with large depth-to-width ratios were constructed. Subsequently, by annealing at a low temperature, the transition process from superhydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity was successfully achieved on the FeCoCrMnNi surface. The effects of the hatching interval on the wettability were investigated, and the mechanism of wettability transition for FeCoCrMnNi was discussed. According to the experimental results and analysis, the textured surfaces exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity at different hatching intervals and a maximum contact angle of 165° was obtained. Furthermore, the created superhydrophobic surfaces possessed good liquid capture and self-cleaning capabilities and enabled magnification for optical imaging. The wettability transition after low temperature annealing was attributed to the absorption of airborne organic compounds. This study provides an efficient, clean, and versatile strategy to achieve superhydrophobicity of the FeCoCrMnNi surface by laser processing.