Super water-repellent surfaces with fractal structures and their potential application to biological studies

Abstract Super water repellency of solid surfaces can be realized by formation of fractal structures, which were verified and explained by various materials, such as alkylketene dimer (AKD), platinum–palladium alloy-covered AKD, and poly(alkylpyrrole), and also by comparison of fractal surfaces with smooth ones. Novel potential applications of the fractal solid surfaces to unique biological studies are suggested based on our previous and the present biological studies on fractal AKD surfaces.