Recent advances in nanostructured superhydrophobic surfaces: fabrication and long-term durability challenges

Abstract

Surface coatings with wetting properties have attracted great interest in both fundamental research and industrial applications due to their potential use as coatings on windows, solar panels, wall paintings, anti-fogging and anti-corrosive coatings and anti-biofouling surfaces. However, despites decades of research efforts demonstrating controllable wettability of these coatings in terms of superhydrophobicity and superhydrophilicity, commercialization is yet to be realized. Fundamental challenge to practical application of superhydrophobic surfaces and coatings have been attributed to the lack of mechanical robustness of the micro-nanoscale architecture and the lack of stability of surface chemistry. Here, recent progress in superhydrophobic coatings is reviewed, with particular focus on fundamental understanding of superhydrophobic surfaces, their fabrications and mechanical and chemical testing protocols for promising superhydrophobic-mediated self-cleaning surface candidates are discussed.