Literature review on superhydrophobic self-cleaning surfaces produced by electrospinning

Self-cleaning surface is potentially a very useful addition for many commercial products due to economic, aesthetic, and environmental reasons. Super-hydrophobic self-cleaning, also called Lotus effect, utilizes right combination of surface chemistry and roughness to force water droplets to form high contact angle on a surface, easily roll off a surface and pick up dirt particles on its way. Electrospinning is a promising technique for creation of superhydrophobic self-cleaning surfaces owing to a wide set of parameters that allow effectively controlling roughness of resulted webs. This article gives a brief introduction to the theory of super-hydrophobic self-cleaning and basic principles of the electrospinning process and reviews the scientific literature where electrospinning was used to create superhydrophobic surfaces. The article reviewed are categorized into several groups and their results are compared in terms of superhydrophobic properties. Several issues with current state of the art and highlights of important areas for future research are discussed in the conclusion. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012