Fabricating the Superhydrophobic Nickel and Improving Its Antifriction Performance by the Laser Surface Texturing

The superhydrophobic surface can change the friction property of the material, reduce the adhesion of the friction interface, and produce a certain slip, thereby reducing the friction coefficient. The laser has high energy, high density, and is especially suitable for the surface treatment of materials. The laser surface texturing is a good way to construct superhydrophobic surfaces. The experiment uses a nanosecond pulse laser to construct the groove texture on the nickel surface. The contact area between the air and the droplets retained on the rough surface is increased, effectively preventing the water droplets from entering the gully of the surface microstructure, reducing the water droplets and the solid surface. The contact area ultimately makes the surface exhibit excellent superhydrophobicity. A superhydrophobic nickel surface having an apparent contact angle of water (ACAW) of 160° and a sliding angle (SA) of less than 10° was prepared. The MM-W1B vertical universal friction and wear tester was used to test the groove texture samples with different depths. The surface texture can capture the wear debris generated by the wear and store the lubricant, which is beneficial to the formation of fluid dynamic pressure lubrication and improve the load. The friction coefficient is reduced from 0.65 of the unprocessed surfaces to 0.25 after the texturing, and the friction performance is greatly improved.