Developing robust water-repellent textiles is critical for outdoor, protective, and industrial applications. However, achieving long-lasting water repellency under mechanical stress has been a major challenge.

Now, a research team led by Prof. Dong Zhichao from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new one-step fabrication strategy—termed MARS (Molecularly Assembled Robust Superhydrophobic Shell)—for producing superhydrophobic fabrics with stable mechanical performance under harsh conditions.

The findings were published in Nature Communications on March 20.