Hydrophobic and antibacterial properties of laser micromachined steel surfaces

One of the main benefits of ultrashort laser micromachining is the possibility of preparing various surface structures, including a diversity of shapes and dimensions. The goal of this paper was to fabricate hydrophobic surface structures and to study coherency between the wettability and antibacterial properties of these structures for their further ways of application. The picosecond laser with a galvanometer scanner was used in the experiment for the fabrication of several types of surface structures. The next part of the experiment was testing of fabricated structures. Their wettability and antibacterial properties were tested and analyzed during several months. Tests showed that the fabrication of surface structures changed the wettability of the tested samples (the samples became more hydrophobic) and also showed that these structures affect their bacterial properties.