A Review On The Synthesis Strategies For The Fabrication Of Superhydrophobic Coating

Over the past few years, superhydrophobic coating exhibiting unique structure and exceptional water repellency has emerged as a versatile coating for the applications in the field of anti-corrosion[1], anti-icing 2], anti-fogging[3], self-cleaning[4], anti-fouling[5], and medical sectors. Recent progress in the underwater and flexible electronics, automotive, advanced textiles, high end footwear, and food packaging industry sectors are expected to act as crucial growth drivers of this superhydrophobic market in the future. Self-cleaning and water-repellent behaviors are governed by the ‘wettability’ of a material surfaces as naturally found in lotus leaf, peanut leaf, rose petals, poplar leaf, Salvinia molesta floating leaves, butterfly wing, fish scale, water strider, compound eyes of mosquito, gecko feet, desert beetles, spider silk, cactus, and many more. In general, to what extent a material is wet with a liquid is determined by the balance of surface free energy and roughness. With the advent of nanotechnology and nanomaterials, surface architecture as well as surface chemistry can be controlled to obtain superhydrophobicity. Surface chemistry alone may not be adequate to explain the superhydrophobic behavior. It appears to be a physiochemical phenomenon, where substrate is a function of two key aspects comprising surface chemistry and surface architecture. This can be achieved by incorporating lower surface energy species to the surface.