Recent advances in superhydrophobic fabrics: Fabrication techniques, material innovations, and performance challenges

Superhydrophobic fabric inspired by natural phenomena and objects has garnered significant attention for its remarkable water-repellent and self-cleaning properties. Owing to their exceptional features, such as self-cleaning and stain resistance, they find potential applications in various fields. Researchers have been working to develop intelligent water-repellent textiles by altering surface roughness and energy, two key prerequisites for superhydrophobicity. A successful combination of low surface energy and surface roughness, enabled by advanced fabrication techniques and low-affinity synthetic and bio-based materials, has resulted in superhydrophobicity. This review provides a concise analysis of top-down and bottom-up approaches, including chemical, plasma etching, electrospinning, dip coating, spray coating, sol-gel method, layer-by-layer deposition, chemical vapour deposition, hydrothermal method, inkjet printing, and electrodeposition, used to develop non-wetting fabrics. Additionally, this review summarises recent advancements in the development of superhydrophobic fabrics, modification technologies, and materials used for surface alteration. The review systematically compares fabrication strategies based on processing methods, interfacial chemistry, hierarchical surface morphology, and resulting wetting behaviour. Emphasis is also placed on sustainability, including the transition from fluorinated coatings to environmentally benign alternatives and the associated challenges of achieving long-term performance. The discussion further correlates fabrication strategies with coating adhesion, dominant failure mechanisms, and substrate compatibility to establish clear structure–property–performance relationships. Thus, the review serves as a comprehensive reference and provides a systematic approach for engineering robust and environmentally friendly superhydrophobic textiles.