Hydrophobicity of laser-textured soda-lime glass

This project focused on enhancing the water contact angle and reducing water adhesion on the modified surface of soda-lime glass through laser processing using the diode laser system to investigate the impact of laser parameters of laser power and scanning speeds on the glass surface. The study examined the effect of these parameters on surface morphology and water contact angle. The characterization was performed using an inverted metallurgical microscope for surface morphology, and a sessile drop test setup for water contact angle measurement and bricklayer pattern with two different spacings of 0.3 and 0.5 mm was used. The results revealed that the highest water contact angle achieved after surface modification for 0.3 mm was 98.97° at 1000 mm/min and 1.0W while for 0.5 mm at 93.01°, at 600 mm/min and 1.2W. Both sample patterns with 0.3 and 0.5 mm show no defect and all samples seem to have a mark from laser texturing with an increase in power, the laser mark on the surface becomes wider and the large gap between the line becomes more distinct. These findings are significant for designing hydrophobic glass surfaces using laser texturing.