Laser irradiation and simultaneous functionalization with lauric acid for superhydrophobic copper surfaces in a single step – A PFAS-free alternative

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The control and modification of the surface’s wettability is a surface engineering task demanded by several applications that use material as metals like copper. Laser irradiation is a well-explored technique to modify the roughness of the surfaces which is required to modify their wettability. Despite this, the obtention of superhydrophobic surfaces also requires modification of the surface chemistry, which is achieved only through aging after irradiation or additional chemical functionalization using methods that, in most of the case, involve the use of “forever chemicals”. Here we present a new single step method that allows simultaneous control of the roughness and the functionalization of copper with lauric acid that is non-toxic and presents good biocompatibility. The samples achieve superhydrophobicity in less than a day after production and independently of the atmosphere where the samples are stored, a factor that is not taken into consideration is several of the previous studies. They revealed self-cleaning abilities even after some scratches were inflicted on the surface. The method can be extended to other metals opening the avenue for new surfaces with non-fluorinated compounds and wettability and biocompatibility properties suitable for new applications.