Facile fabrication of super-slippery and transparent glass with anti-fogging and self-cleaning characteristics

Abstract

The present work reports a facile and effective approach for developing slippery liquid-infused porous surface (SLIPS) nanoporous glass. Glass was chemically etched using KOH solution followed by silanization and silicone oil coating using vapour deposition at different temperatures. SLIPS glass showed high contact angle ∼ 115⁰ compared to nascent glass (∼40⁰), low hysteresis (<5°). The sample showed sliding angle < 5⁰ against wide range of liquids with surface tension as low as 28 mN/m. The super-slippery behaviour was coupled with uncompromised transparency (>90 %) and enhanced oil retention owing to the presence of nanopores acting as reservoirs. The SLIPS glass maintained slippery nature (SA < 5⁰) during exposure to ultrasonic vibrations, multiple cloth wiping cycles and multiple high-velocity droplet impacts. The slippery glass showed exquisite combination of properties involving anti-fogging, self-cleaning and anti-staining, with widespread applications.