Superhydrophobic surfaces reduce drag by combining hydrophobicity and roughness to trap gas bubbles in a microscopic texture. Recent work has focused on specific cases, such as arrays of pillars or grooves, with limited theoretical guidance. Here, we consider the experimentally relevant limit of thin channels and obtain rigorous bounds on the effective slip length for any two-component (e.g., low-slip and high-slip) texture with given area fractions. Among all anisotropic textures, parallel stripes attain the largest (or smallest) possible slip in a straight, thin channel for parallel (or perpendicular) orientation with respect to the mean flow. Tighter bounds for isotropic textures further constrain the effective slip. These results provide a framework for the rational design of superhydrophobic surfaces.

• Received 2 August 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.026001