Facile fabricant of slippery lubricant-infused porous foam-like surface for efficient fog harvesting

Abstract

Inspired by pitcher plant, a variety of lubricant-infused surfaces have been created with unique properties. Owing to its high heat transfer performance and negligible contact angle hysteresis, the lubricant-infused surfaces are employed in fog harvesting. However, the loss of lubricant oil can result in performance degradation. Therefore, many surfaces with fine micro/nano structure have been created to increase the lubricant retention ability of lubricant-infused surface. Unfortunately, the procedures for preparing these surfaces are difficult or time-consuming. In this study, we synthesized a porous foam-like lubricant-infused surface (F-LIS). Porous copper foam was created on the surface of copper sheets through the dynamic bubble template method, and the pore walls were made of closely interlaced needle-like nano-dendrites. The fog harvesting efficiency of the surface can reach 2761.2 mgcm−2h−1. Additionally, F-LIS demonstrates excellent mechanical durability and chemical stability as a result of the micro/nano structure and the strong intermolecular force between PFPE as lubricant and the modifier layer, PFDT. After high-speed rotation, prolonged placement and UV irradiation etc., the surface still exhibits brilliant sliding ability and fog harvesting efficiency. This work offers a simple and effective approach for fabricating lubricant-infused surfaces with distinguished fog harvesting capability, providing a reference for relieving the crisis of freshwater resource scarcity.