• Design & Manufacturing
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.55-61
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• 2023

With femtosecond (fs) laser pulse irradiation on metals, various types of nano- and micro-scale structures can be naturally induced at the surface through laser-matter interaction. Two notable structures are laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs) and cone/spike structures, which are known to significantly modify the optical and physical properties of metal surfaces. In this work, we irradiate fs laser pulses onto various types of metals, cold-rolled steel, pickled & oiled steel, Fe-18Cr-8Ni alloy, Zn-Mg-Al alloy coated steel, and pure Cu which can be useful for precise molding and imprinting processes, and adjust the morphological profiles of LIPSSs and cone/spike structures for clear structural coloration and a larger range of surface wettability control, respectively, by changing the fluence of laser and the speed of raster scan. The periods of LIPSSs on metals used in our experiments are nearly independent of laser fluence. Accordingly, the structural coloration of the surface with LIPSSs can be optimized with the morphological profile of LIPSSs, controlled only by the speed of the raster scan once the laser fluence is determined for each metal sample. However, different from LIPSSs, we demonstrate that the morphological profiles of the cone/spike structures, including their size, shape, and density, can be manipulated with both the laser fluence and the raster scan speed to increase a change in the contact angle. By injection molding and imprinting processes, it is expected that fs laser-induced surface structures on metals can be replicated to the plastic surfaces and potentially beneficial to control the optical and wetting properties of the surface of injection molded and imprinted products.

• Clean Technology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.14-18
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• 2019

In general after the etching process, waste etching solution contains metals. (ex. Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Zinc (Zn), etc.) In this work, we proposed a recycling process for waste etching solution and refining from waste liquid contained nickel to make nickel metal nano powder. At first, the neutralization agent was experimentally selected through the hydrolysis of impurities such as iron by adjusting the pH. We selected sodium hydroxide solution as a neutralizing agent, and removed impurities such as iron by pH = 4. And then, metal ions (ex. Manganese (Mn) and Zinc (Zn), etc.) remain as impurities were refined by D2EHPA (Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid). The nickel powders were synthesized by liquid phase reduction method with hydrazine ($N_2H_4$) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The resulting nickel chloride solution and nickel metal powder has high purity ( > 99%). The purity of nickel chloride solution and nickel nano powders were measured by EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic) titration method with ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer). FE-SEM (field emission scanning electron microscopy) was used to investigate the morphology, particle size and crystal structure of the nickel metal nano powder. The structural properties of the nickel nano powder were characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction) and TEM (transmission electron microscopy).