Recent advances in superwetting anti-fog surfaces for medical goggles: a mini review

Medical goggles often suffer from fogging and droplet adhesion in high-humidity or long-term use, severely impairing visual clarity. Superwetting anti-fog surfaces have gained attention, primarily focusing on superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces. This mini review systematically discusses the mechanism and performance of these approaches, with particular emphasis on their applications in medical goggles. In particular, it highlights the advantages, limitations, and application challenges of these two strategies in medical environments, offering insights that are often dispersed across the existing literature. Furthermore, this review proposes future development directions toward multifunctional anti-fog goggles integrating antibacterial, anti-reflective, self-healing, and self-cleaning functionalities. Such integrated designs are expected to enable more durable, reliable, and sustainable optical protection for healthcare applications.