Soft, elastic, water-repellent materials

Small hydrophobic textures at solid surfaces provide water repellency, a situation whose detailed properties critically depend on the geometry of textures. Depending on their size, density, and shape, water slip, rain repellency, or antifogging can be achieved. Here, we discuss how the use of soft, elastic materials allows us to tune reversibly the texture density by stretching or relaxing the materials, which is found to impact water adhesion and rebounds. In addition, solid deformations can also be exploited to largely vary the shape of Wenzel drops, a consequence of the strong pinning of water in this state. Published by AIP Publishing.