Nano-cone Textures Generate Extremely ‘Robust’ Water-Repellent Surfaces
15th July 2014
“The idea that microscopic textures can impart a material with water-repellent properties has its origins in nature,” explained Brookhaven physicist and lead author Antonio Checco. “For example, the leaves of lotus plants and some insects’ exoskeletons have tiny-scale texturing designed to repel water by trapping air. This property, called ‘superhydrophobicity’ (or super-water-hating), enables water droplets to easily roll off, carrying dirt particles along with them.”
Mimicking this self-cleaning mechanism of nature is relevant for a wide range of applications, such as non-fouling, anti-icing, and antibacterial coatings. However, engineered superhydrophobic surfaces often fail under conditions involving high temperature, pressure, and humidity-such as automotive and aircraft windshields and steam turbine power generators-when the air trapped in the texture can be prone to escape. So scientists have been looking for schemes to improve the robustness of these surfaces by delaying or preventing air escape.