Recent advances in superhydrophobic nanomaterials and nanoscale systems

This review describes the recent advances in the field of superhydrophobic nanomaterials and nanoscale systems. The term superhydrophobic is defined from the surface properties when the surface shows the contact angle (CA) higher than 150 degrees. This could be well known from the lotus effect due to the non-stick and self-cleaning properties of the lotus leaf (LL). We briefly introduced the methods of preparing superhydrophobic surfaces using top-down approaches, bottom-up approaches and a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches and various ways to prepare superhydrophobic nanomaterials and nanoscale systems using the bio-inspired materials, polymer nanocomposites, metal nanoparticles graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). We also pointed out the recent applications of the superhydrophobic nanomaterials and nanoscale systems in oil-spill capture and separations, self-cleaning and self-healing systems, bio-medicals, anti-icing and anti-corrosive, electronics, catalysis, textile fabrics and papers etc. The review also highlights the visionary outlook for the future development and use of the superhydrophobic nanomaterials and nanoscale systems for a wide variety of applications.