Background

Super-repellent, or superomniphobic, coatings have numerous applications from waterproofing to anti-fingerprint coatings. However, a challenge of developing these coatings for practical applications is mechanical durability due to a delicate surface texture. The KU coating is both superomniphobic and self-healing. Testing shows that mechanical damage to the surface, such as scratches or cracks, rapidly disappear in humid air. The material then recovers its original super-repellency for contacting liquids.

Technology Overview

A KU researcher has developed a superomniphobic (superhydrophobic and superoleophobic) coating material that is self-healing when damaged and retains its super-repellency.

The multi-layer coating material, which is a hydrogel in part, has experimentally demonstrated the ability to heal itself upon exposure to water vapor. It was shown that mechanical damages