How Multilayered Feathers Enhance Underwater Superhydrophobicity

Inspired by ducks, we demonstrate that air pockets within stacked layers of porous superhydrophobic feathers can withstand up to five times more water pressure compared to a single feather. In addition to natural duck feathers, this "layer effect" was replicated with synthetic feathers created by laser cutting micrometric slots into aluminum foil and imparting a superhydrophobic nanostructure. It was revealed that adding layers promotes an increasingly redundant pathway for water impalement, which serves to pressurize the enclosed air pockets. This was validated by creating a probabilistic pore impalement model and also by filling the feathers with an incompressible oil, rather than air, to suppress the layer effect. In addition to revealing a utility of natural duck feathers, our findings suggest that multilayered engineered surfaces can maintain air pockets at high pressures, useful for reducing the drag and fouling of marine structures or enhancing desalination membranes.