Repellency of the lotus leaf: contact angles, drop retention, and sliding angles

Abstract

Much of the modeling done on repellency and super hydrophobicity has focused on surfaces with rectilinear geometries, but their wetting behavior is simpler and can be quite different from that of repellent surfaces with curved features. In this study, we model the contact angles and sliding angles exhibited by the lotus leaf, accounting for the influence of curvature and pinning. Our estimates agree reasonably well with experimental observations.