A facile method for fabricating super-slippery surface with long term and high-efficiency sustained release performance

Abstract

Slippery liquid infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) process potential applications in surface liquid repellency, self-cleaning and anti-adhesion, while exhibiting long-term and stable release of lubricants is remaining a great challenge. Herein, an efficient liquid injection method was proposed to construct SLIPS by altering the surface energy and adjusting the inner porous structure using the facile method of direct UV irradiation. The infusion efficiency and release behavior were significantly improved and verified with various techniques such as wetting measurement, confocal fluorescence microscopy and optical microscopy. It was found that the infusion and release behavior of lubricants were varied for different specimens with different UV irradiation time. Compared to the prime substrate, PDMS treated with 90 min UV irradiation showed the highest volume of lubricant penetration which was increased almost by 833 %. Additionally, the amount of infusion consisted with the surface energy and specimens with moderate wetting exhibited the most effective lubricating performance. For the sample with 90 min UV irradiation, an ultra-low friction coefficient of 0.018 was observed under water lubrication and its releasing could be detected even after a long period of 768 h. Our results provided a facile method for the future development of long-term lubricating surfaces which may broaden their applications in fields of anti-corrosion, anti-icing and anti-fog, anti-fouling, micro-flow control and oil-water ultra-slippery occasions.