"Artificial lotus leaf" prepared using a 1945 patent and a commercial textile

Publication Date

2006

Journal or Book Title

Langmuir

Abstract

Two polyester textiles, conventional polyester and microfiber polyester fabrics, were hydrophobized using a simple, patented water-repellent silicone coating procedure. Water contact angles on these two surfaces are θA/θR = 151°/140° and θA/θR = 170°/165°, respectively. A smooth surface of this of this coating exhibits θA/θR = 110°/100°. The binary length scale topography (∼2 μm/∼50 μm) of the microfiber polyester is responsible for relieving receding contact line pinning and promoting water repellency that is superior to that of the lotus leaf. The recent literature on superhydrophobic surfaces is criticized for neglecting literature of the 1940s.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1021/la061237x

Pages

5998-6000

Volume

22

Issue

14

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