Bio-inspired manufacturing of superwetting surfaces for fog collection and anti-icing applications

As a century-old concept,superwettability has aroused the interest of researchers in the past decades,attributed to the discoveries of the mechanisms of special wetting phenomena in nature.Bio-inspired manufacturing of superwetting surfaces for fog collection and anti-icing applications has become mainstream research,potentially alleviating the problem of water shortage and ice accidents.Superwetting surfaces for fog collection and anti-icing applications involve a reverse process,in which the former gathers water spontaneously,while the latter repels water.Contrastive analysis of the two is essential for the comprehensive understanding of superhydrophilic/superhydrophobic surfaces and boosting their applications.Herein,wetting theories and basic mechanisms for fog collection and anti-icing are briefly introduced.Then,manufacturing methods of bionic structures and surfaces are systematically reviewed after discussing the typical organisms with superwettability.Finally,conclusions are drawn and prospects for future development are proposed.