Natural and Biomimetic Artificial Surfaces for Superhydrophobicity, Self-Cleaning, Low Adhesion, and Drag Reduction

The emerging field of biomimetics allows one to mimic biology or nature to develop nanomaterials, nanodevices, and processes which provide desirable properties. Hierarchical structures with dimensions of features ranging from the macroscale to the nanoscale are extremely common in nature to provide properties of interest. There are a large number of objects including bacteria, plants, land and aquatic animals, and seashells with properties of commercial interest. Certain plant leaves, such as Lotus leaves, are known to be superhydrophobic and self-cleaning due to the hierarchical roughness of their leaf surfaces.