Self-cleaning bathroom surfaces by femtosecond laser machining

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Cleaning showers or bathtubs is not only a time-consuming and annoying task, but we usually use relatively harsh not environmentally friendly chemical cleaning aids. Thus, self-cleaning bathroom surfaces would be a welcome innovation. However, many of the technologies that currently exist to create these desired surface characteristics are deemed unacceptable to Maax Bath, as these treatments are applied to the surface through a solvent delivery system and wear away quickly requiring regular applications of the products. While the requirement for reapplication defeats the purpose of the "trouble free" maintenance for the consumer, the solvent-based spray systems are also in contradiction to the green initiatives that Maax is undertaking to move towards greener production technologies. Thus, Maax Bath has identified femtosecond laser micromachining as a promising technology to industrially create self-cleaning bathroom surfaces as this technique was shown to be suitable to induce a surface topology mimicked from the self-cleaning lotus leaf on various materials. With this project we aim at determining the range of settings to create such self-cleaning surface typologies on polymeric and ceramic substrate materials. We will further assess their performance is repelling shampoo-water mixtures. Finally we will test the created surfaces in abrasion experiments to assess their durability in a typical bathroom application. Thus, this project will enable Maax Bath to make an informed investment decision for its endeavour to position the company at the forefront of the easy-clean bathroom market. Aside from the competitive advantage gained by Maax Bath through this novel technique, the implementation of such surfaces will considerably reduce the use of environmentally questionable detergents and cleaning products and thus contribute to a greener Canada.