Developing versatile, scalable, and durable coatings that resist the accretion of matters (liquid, vapor, and solid phases) in various operating environments is important to industrial applications, yet has proven challenging. Here, we report a cellular coating that imparts liquid-repellence, vapor-imperviousness, and solid-shedding capabilities without the need for complicated structures and fabrication processes. The key lies in designing basic cells consisting of rigid microshells and releasable nanoseeds, which together serve as a rigid shield and a bridge that chemically bonds with matrix and substrate. The durability and strong resistance to accretion of different matters of our cellular coating are evidenced by strong anti-abrasion, enhanced anti-corrosion against saltwater over 1000 h, and maintaining dry in complicated phase change conditions. The cells can be impregnated into diverse matrixes for facile mass production through scalable spraying. Our strategy provides a generic design blueprint for engineering ultra-durable coatings for a wide range of applications.

A bionic hybrid wetting surface inspired by the desert beetle and cactus for efficient water harvesting.

The repeatable wettability of the facile-to-fabricate porous copper surface shows superhydrophobicity in air and improved superhydrophobicity under oil. The resultant 3D copper foam can separate and capture oils from water with high separation efficiency, fast capture kinetics, fine mechanical resistance to water impact, and good recyclability.