This study presents the contact angle prediction model of a trapezoidal groove structure based on the laser irradiation on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The trapezoidal groove structure was designed and proposed according to the characteristics of a femtosecond laser. First, the complete wetting model and incomplete wetting model which were compatible with the characteristics of the laser mechanism were constructed based on the Gibbs free energy and the structural parameters of the trapezoidal groove structure. Then, based on the contact angle prediction models constructed, the samples were divided into two groups according to the designed structural parameters, and the experimental investigations were carried out. The result demonstrated that the incomplete wetting prediction model was more in line with the actual situation. The convex width and the top edge length of spacing of the trapezoidal groove structure both affected the contact angle prediction results. From both the experimental contact angles and the contact angles predicted by the incomplete wetting model, it could be known that the contact angle reached 138.09° when the ratio of the convex width to the top edge length of spacing was 0.25, indicating that the smaller the ratio of the convex width to the top edge length of spacing, the better the hydrophobicity of PMMA.

In this paper, a femtosecond laser removal model of PMMA was built, and the surface primary and secondary microstructures of PMMA were fabricated. The surface morphology and wettability of the microstructures were measured and analyzed by an ultra-depth three-dimensional microscope and a contact angle measuring instrument. The results showed that femtosecond laser direct writing processing of PMMA surface microstructure changed the PMMA wettability from a hydrophilic state to a hydrophobic state. Meanwhile, the size parameters of multistage microstructures on the PMMA surface were optimized, according to numerical simulation. The contact angle of the optimized microstructures could exceed 150°, achieving superhydrophobicity of the PMMA surface.

Based on the contact angle prediction model of a traditional square column structure, the prediction models for wettability of a parallelogram square column structure (PSCS) on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) surface prepared by femtosecond laser were established. An experiment was conducted to analyze the rationality of the established complete wetting model and incomplete wetting model. It was found that the incomplete wetting prediction model of the square column structure was more in line with the actual situation. For PSCS, the length of both the long and short sides of the boss and the width of the groove exerted an impact on the contact angle prediction results. Under the condition that the length of the long and short sides of the boss remained unchanged and the groove width increased, the contact angle increased under complete wetting and incomplete wetting. In contrast, under the condition that the long side length of the boss and the groove width remained unchanged and the short side length of the boss increased, the contact angle increased under complete wetting but decreased under incomplete wetting. The maximum contact angle reached 135.65°, indicating that PSCS on PMMA surface enhanced the surface hydrophobicity of the material.