Modification of the wettability characteristics of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) by means of CO2, Nd:YAG, excimer and high power diode laser radiation

The surface of the bio-material polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was treated with CO2, Nd:YAG, excimer and high power diode laser (HPDL) radiation. The laser radiation was found to effect varying degrees of change to the wettability characteristics of the material depending upon the laser used. It was observed that interaction with CO2, Nd:YAG and HPDL effected very little change to wettability characteristics of the PMMA. In contrast, interaction of the PMMA with excimer laser radiation resulted an increase in a marked improvement in the wettability characteristics. After excimer laser treatment the surface O2 content was found to have increased and the material was seen to be more polar in nature. The work has shown that the wettability characteristics of the PMMA could be controlled and/or modified with laser surface treatment. However, a wavelength dependence of the change of the wetting properties could not be deduced from the findings of this work.