Shutao Wang, Lin Feng, and Lei Jiang*

Superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted considerable interest due to their great importance in fundamental research and potential for industrial applications. Researchers in Institute of Chemistry, presented a simple one-step solution-immersing technique for fabricating stable bionic superhydrophobic surfaces at ambient temperature using copper as a model system. The resulting flowerlike cluster coating of copper fatty acid carboxylates (see figure) has a high contact angle of about 162° and low sliding angle about 2°. The morphogenesis is involved in this solution-immersing process. This simple approach opens up new avenues for the industrial fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces, with great potential for applications affecting our daily lives, especially if this approach is able to impart self-cleaning and anticorrosion properties to metal surfaces.

Adv. Mater.  (2006, Vol. 18, 767 – 770)

Figure One-step solution-immersing process for fabrication of superhydrophobic surface.