Facile fabrication of a superhydrophobic fabric with mechanical stability and easy-repairability

The poor mechanical stability of superhydrophobic fabrics severely hindered their use in practical applications. Herein, to address this problem, we fabricated a superhydrophobic fabric with both mechanical stability and easy-repairability by a simple method. The mechanical durability of the obtained superhydrophobic fabric was evaluated by finger touching and abrasion with sandpaper. The results show that rough surface textures of the fabric were retained, and the fabric surface still exhibited superhydrophobicity after tests. More importantly, when the fabric lost its superhydrophobicity after a long-time abrasion, it can be easily rendered with superhydrophobicity once more by a regeneration process.

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► A superhydrophobic fabric was fabricated by a facile method.
► The fabric surface still exhibited superhydrophobicity after a long abrasion process.
► The fabric can restore its superhydrophobicity when loss of superhydrophobicity occurred.
► The fabric surface was completely dry to the touch after 8 days of full immersion.