Superhydrophobic coatings as a new class of polyfunctional materials

Superhydrophobic materials and coatings are of great practical interest because of their unique functional characteristics. The many innovative prospects for these materials have even led to the emergence of a new trend in modern materials science. This article, based on a paper heard at a meeting of the RAS Presidium, considers briefly the theoretical basics for the design of such materials and coatings, analyzes their practical uses, and shows that their use in power engineering leads to fundamentally new energy-saving technologies of electricity transmission.