Transparent self-cleaning lubricant-infused surfaces made with large-area breath figure patterns

Abstract

Nepenthes pitcher inspired slippery lubricant-infused porous surfaces greatly impact the understanding of liquid-repellent surfaces construction and have attracted extensive attention in recent years due to their potential applications in self-cleaning, anti-fouling, anti-icing, etc. In this work, we have successfully fabricated transparent slippery lubricant-infused surfaces based on breath figure patterns (BFPs). Large-area BFPs with interconnected pores were initially formed on the glass substrate and then a suitable lubricant was added onto the surfaces. The interconnected pores in BFPs were able to hold the lubricant liquid in place and form a stable liquid/solid composite surface capable of repelling a variety of liquids. The liquid-repellent surfaces show extremely low critical sliding angles for various liquids, thus providing the surfaces with efficient self-cleaning property. It was also found that the liquid droplets’ sliding behaviors on the surfaces were significantly influenced by the tilting angle of the substrate, liquid volume, liquid chemical properties, and pore sizes of the surfaces.