Laser-Assisted Structures for Efficient Fluid Management on Stainless Steel Surfaces

The article presents a high-productivity laser-structuring method combined with a hydrophobic post-treatment to create zone-structured surfaces with a decreasing wetting angle on AISI 304 stainless steel surfaces. We have investigated the impact of laser processing modes and hydrophobic substances on wetting and hysteresis angles and successfully demonstrated autonomous droplet movement over this zone-structured surface. A critical condition for autonomous fluid flow is the need for the drop to touch the boundary between the two zones. This can be achieved by settling the droplet directly on the boundary of the two zones or by using droplets whose surface contact diameter is on the order of magnitude or higher than the zone size. The zone-structured surface showed reusability, maintaining its properties even after 30 droplet passages. The zone-structured surfaces with a decreasing wetting angle can be used for moving a droplet along a complex trajectory as well as for mixing various liquids.