A superhydrophobic ZnO nanorod array film on cotton substrate was fabricated via a wet chemical route and subsequent modi. cation with a layer of n-dodecyltrimethoxysilane (DTMS). The as-obtained cotton sample was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning probe microscope (SPM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The wettability of the cotton fabric sample was also studied by contact angle measurements. Themodified cotton fabrics exhibited superhydrophobicity with a contact angle of 161 degrees for 8 mu L water droplet and a roll-off angle of 9 degrees for 40 mu L water droplet. It was shown that the proper surface roughness and the lower surface energy both played important roles in creating the superhydrophobic surface, in which the Cassie state dominated. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.