Product Code: ICAL09_M1008

Wettability Characteristics Variation of PMMA by Means of CO2 Laser Generated Surface Patterns
Authors:
David Waugh, Loughborough University; Loughborough Great Britain
Jonathan Lawrence, Loughborough University; Loughborough Great Britain
Presented at ICALEO 2009

CO2 lasers can be seen to lend themselves to materials processing applications. These types of lasers have been used extensively in research and industry with the work carried out being well documented. This work investigated the surface modification of PMMA with a CO2 laser in order to vary wettability characteristics. The wettability characteristics of the PMMA were modified by generating a number of patterns of various topography on the surface using the CO2 laser. Thereafter the as-received and modified surfaces were analysed using white light interferometry to quantify the topographical changes. Any changes in the chemical composition of the surfaces were explored with EDX and XPS analysis. To quantify the wettability characteristics as a function of laser irradiation, contact angles where determined using a sessile drop device for each sample. In this way it was possible to determine the efficacy of the CO2 laser generated topographical patterns in terms of wettability characteristics modification.