Superhydrophobic Interfaces for High-Performance/Advanced Application

Abstract

Nature is full of wonders and scientific excellence. We can acquire a great deal of knowledge by studying it, and such studies help us to ameliorate our understanding to find solutions for the conundrums we face in our everyday life. In this context, bio-inspired (lotus leaf), non-adhesive superhydrophobicity is one such phenomenon which has received wide recognition for its exceptional ability to repel water. Superhydrophobicity has drawn great attention because of its various applications like oil–water separation, smart microfluidics, extended drug release, etc. The coexistence of appropriate chemistry and topography confers this special wettability to the reported materials in the literature. Any sort of perturbation in essential chemistry or topography in the artificial superhydrophobic materials results in loss of high repellency to water. Generally, the hierarchical and rough topography decorated with inert and low surface energy molecules provides the essential metastable trapped air which plays a pivotal role in achieving bio-inspired superhydrophobicity. The micro-/nanofeatures that are made out of mostly hydrophilic ingredients and are topped with low surface energy molecules are vulnerable to physical as well as chemical properties. Such limitations appeared as Achilles’ heels, which is the widely practiced synthetic approaches restricting these materials from prospective applications in practical scenarios. To overcome such practical obstacles, many strategies have been adopted to fabricate highly durable superhydrophobic materials. In this regard, the book chapter is focused to discuss different promising and durable superhydrophobic interfaces and their prospective advance applications.