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Nature Chemistry (21 November 2008) | doi:10.1038/nchem.92

Surface wetting: Omniphobic objects

Gavin Armstrong

Materials that resist getting wet have many possible applications, from self-cleaning windows to liquid-repellent textiles, and surfaces that repel water are easily made and well-understood. Creating materials that repel organic, nonpolar liquids such as alkanes — which have lower surface tension than water — has proved problematic.