Technological advancement in development of super-hydrophobic coatings for high-performance wood composites: A review

Abstract

Wood-based composites are susceptible to degradation caused by organisms and non-organisms. The fast and simple way to protect them is through surface improvement by applying a coating to the surface. Advanced super-hydrophobic coatings revealed that wood-based composites could be manufactured into multifunctional, high-added-value products. Two key aspects to consider are hierarchical roughness on the surface and low surface free energy. This review article provides information on how to get a super-hydrophobic surface, including coating material and method, followed by testing and investigation up to their applications. In the last section, we discuss the challenges faced by the fabrication of the super-hydrophobic coating. The authors anticipate that this review will assist researchers in considering the various elements that determine the research design in the laboratory for innovative wood surface improvement. A little section of this review is also devoted to the field's prospects for the future. Eventually, eco-friendly materials, simple equipment, methods, and low-cost and efficient stages with high-performance super-hydrophobic surfaces will be the goals. However, applicability on a large scale is another important point of the usefulness of super-hydrophobic coatings.