Modification of copper surface for increasing contact angle of water droplet using physical methods

Abstract

In the present work the morphology of copper surface is modified to increase the contact angle of water droplet using by physical metal removal processes. Copper is used in many industrial applications like power plants, refrigerators, and industrial condensers etc. Modification of copper surface is performed using physical methods to increase the contact angle using CNC lathe, conventional lathe, Electrical Discharge Machine (EDM). Eight different samples are taken by varying the parameters like depth of cut (0.1-0.6 mm), feed rate (0.1-0.003 mm/rev), speed (637-1274 rpm) to obtain increase in contact angle of water droplet (31.7°- 64.28°) on the prepared surface. The maximum contact angle of 64.28° is obtained from the sample-7 with depth of cut (0.6 mm), feed rate (0.001 mm/rev) and speed (637 rpm). The prepared surface is characterized by microscopic image for surface morphology. The modified copper surface is validated with the bare copper surface which gives 40.15% increase in contact angle. Also, modifications of the mild steel and copper surfaces are carried in conventional lathe and EDM respectively. This approach requires no complex processing equipment’s or time-consuming preparation and no toxic reagents are involved. The process involved in modification of copper surface is an eco-friendly attempt and inexpensive compared with all other chemical methods.