Hydrophobic, hydrophilic

✎ This article/section is a stub — some half-sorted notes, not necessarily checked, not necessarily correct. Feel free to ignore, or tell me about it.

hydrophilic[1] materials are ‘water-loving‘ and tend to be wetted by water.

e.g. paper towels

hydrophobic[2] materials are ‘water-fearing‘,

e.g. a waterproof jacket

ultrahydrophobic is just the more extreme cases of hydrophoby,

and usually refers to cases where the effect is strong enough for to bead up more visibly and roll off more quickly.

hygroscopic[3] refers to materials that can absorb/adsorb water and take it inside

from the opposite view, hygroscopic materials could be said to be attracted to water, but not dissolved by water.