Surface functionalization of plastic parts has been studied and developed for several applications. However, demand for the development of reliable and profitable manufacturing strategies is still high. Here we develop and characterize a new process chain for the versatile and cost-effective production of sub-micron textured plastic parts using laser ablation. The study includes the generation of different sub-micron structures on the surface of a mold using femtosecond laser ablation and vario-thermal micro-injection molding. The manufactured parts and their surfaces are characterized in consideration of polymer replication and wetting behavior. The results of the static contact angle measurements show that replicated Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSSs) always increase the hydrophobicity of plastic parts. A maximum contact angle increase of 20% was found by optimizing the manufacturing thermal boundary conditions. The wetting behavior is linked to the transition from a Wenzel to Cassie–Baxter state, and is crucial in optimizing the injection molding cycle time.

Any processing disturbances in laser surface texturing (LST) could compromise the resulting surface topography and their desired functional response. Disturbances such as focal plane offsets and beam incident angle variations are always present in LST processing of 3D parts and can affect the surface morphology. In this research the effects of these laser processing disturbances in producing laser induced surface structures (LIPSS) on CoCrMo alloy substrates were investigated. In particular, these two disturbances were considered as laser processing variables to determine their effects on functional responses of LIPSS treated surfaces, i.e. surface wettability and the proliferation of Saos-2 osteoblast-like cells were evaluated. It was found that the changes of laser processing conditions led to a decrease in surface wettability and Saos-2 cells proliferation. In addition, a correlation between surface wettability and cell proliferation on LIPSS treated surface was identified and conclusions made about the effects of investigated process disturbances on the functional response of LIPSS treated CoCrMo substrates.