Superhydrophobic Polymer Multilayers that Promote the Extended, Long‐Term Release of Embedded Water‐Soluble Agents

Polymer multilayers that exhibit surface and bulk superhydrophobicity are demonstrated to promote long-term release of water-soluble agents (for ca.1 year) when submerged in water. The extremely nonwetting nature of these materials prevents rapid influx of water, addressing a key limitation inherent to polyelectrolytebased multilayers that release imbedded agents quickly. Our results provide new and potentially general principles for the design of surface coatings in the context of controlled release. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the authors. Such materials are peer reviewed and may be re-organized for online delivery, but are not copy-edited or typeset. Technical support issues arising from supporting information (other than missing files) should be addressed to the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.