A review focused on the superhydrophobic fabrics with functional properties

Abstract

Superhydrophobic (SH) property is a naturally occurring phenomenon that has a wide range of potential applications such as antiicing, anticorrosion, electrowetting, blood typing, and so forth, and therefore, inspires the researchers to mimic them over artificial surfaces to achieve desired properties. Low surface energy and suitable surface roughness are the two key factors that play a vital role in developing SH surfaces. Hence, when the target substrate is introduced with suitable roughness and consequently functionalized with low surface energy, SH can be incorporated. Owing to the SH's wide range of inherent properties such as stain-resistant, self-cleaning, flame retardant, oil/water separation, and so forth as well as tunable functionalities such as electrical conductivity, photocatalytic activity, UV-protection, and so forth, the development of SH fabrics has gained a lot of research attention in recent years. In this context, the present review focuses on the different applications of SH fabrics and their recent research progress.