Biomimetic fog collection and its influencing factors

Abstract

In the past few decades, in the case of shortage of water resources, fog collection has received extensive attention and research from countries around the world, but it still faces problems such as low efficiency, poor robustness, and limited conditions of use. With advances in science and technology, there has been a major breakthrough in the design and fabrication of special wettable surfaces. This review aims to explore the many factors that affect their efficiency in practical application through the process of fog collection on functional surfaces. Starting from the main process of fog collection, including fog droplet capture, condensation–coalescence and water droplet transport, it moves on to explore the factors that affect efficiency, including fog velocity, relative humidity and other external factors, and internal factors, including the application of microstuctures and macrostructures in fog collection, and the influence of different chemical compositions on the fog collection process. After that, the effect of preventing re-evaporation after collecting fog water is discussed. Finally, some challenges and perspectives are provided regarding the future research and development of fog collection surfaces.