Porous and reactive polymeric interfaces: an emerging avenue for achieving durable and functional bio-inspired wettability

Abstract

In the past two decades, bio-inspired liquid wettability has received widespread attention. Various chemistries and strategies have been proposed for co-optimization of essential features (both topographical and chemical) that confer extreme and special liquid wettability both in air and under water. However, most of the fabrication processes for developing durable interfaces are too complicated to be translated to an applied context, or the synthesized bio-inspired interfaces that are embedded with liquid wettability are inappropriate to sustain at practically relevant diverse and challenging outdoor settings. Thus, this area of research demands a facile synthesis process to develop durable bio-inspired interfaces with a technological impact. In this context, designing chemically ‘reactive’ porous polymeric coatings appears to be a promising approach for developing abrasion tolerant and functional bio-inspired wettability. Over the last few years, various residual chemistries have been adopted for controlled tailoring of essential chemistry in porous/hierarchically structured interfaces to develop different and durable liquid wettabilities. In this review, we have illustrated how the concept of chemically ‘reactive’ interfaces has evolved in developing smart and durable bio-inspired interfaces for applications in ‘real-world’ scenarios.