Recent development in the fabrication of self-healing superhydrophobic surfaces

Some plants and insects exhibit superhydrophobicity in nature. Inspired by this, many researchers have designed superhydrophobic surfaces by studying the structures of those plants and animals. Hence, man-made superhydrophobic surfaces have gained tremendous interest because they can be used in diverse fields. Superhydrophobicity occurs by combining micro-/nanoscale rough structures with low surface energy materials to produce a water-repelling surface. However, superhydrophobic surfaces have not been able to be used in real life applications because of their poor durability and short life span. Self-healing is a good strategy to increase the resilience and life span of a superhydrophobic surface. It has been suggested that embedding a superhydrophobic surface with a self-healing ability will extend the lifespan of the surface for practical applications. A lot of reviews talk about superhydrophobic surfaces but very few discuss self-healing superhydrophobic surfaces. In this review, recent progress in the fabrication of self-healing superhydrophobic surfaces, characterization, applications of superhydrophobic surfaces and different methods for fabrication are discussed. Also, some ideas for the way forward on future researches are discussed.