Liquid-impregnated surface
A slippery liquid-infused porous surface (SLIPS), liquid-impregnated surface (LIS), or multi-phase surface consists of two distinct layers. The first is a highly textured or porous substrate with features spaced sufficiently close to stably contain the second layer which is an impregnating liquid that fills in the spaces between the features.[1][2][3] The liquid must have a surface energy well-matched to the substrate in order to form a stable film.[4] Slippery surfaces are finding applications in commercial products, anti-fouling surfaces, anti-icing[5] and biofilm-resistant medical devices.[6]
Adaptive Surface Technologies [7] and LiquiGlide are commercial examples of liquid-impregnated surfaces, invented at Harvard University[4][8] and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[9][10][11]
SLIPS type surfaces have a number of advantages over traditional lotus based superhydrophobic surfaces. The free flowing liquid allows for the creation of a smooth surface with the ability to self-repair. This smooth surface often results in a low sliding angle for both high and low surface tension liquids, enhancing droplet shedding and heat transfer.[12] Finally, SLIPS surfaces can be made optically transparent unlike many traditional superhydrophobic surfaces that scatter light due to having structure on the same order as visible light.
However, the longevity of SLIPS for prolonged anti-icing applications have been of concern.[13] In this regard, replacing the lubricant in SLIPS with a phase switching liquid (PSL) [14] can yield promising results. PSLs are a class of phase change materials, which are in liquid state under ambient conditions and have a melting point higher than the freezing point of water. Thus the PSL changes into solid phase in a cold environment before water freezing can happen. While PSL impregnated textured surface behave as a traditional SLIPS in ambient conditions, when operated below the melting point of PSL, they resist PSL displacement out of surface texture by water, engendering enhanced icephobicity even on hydrophilic substrates.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Slippery surfaces with high pressure stability, optical transparency, and self-healing characteristics".
- ^ "US Patent # US 20130032316 A1". US Patent. USPTO. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ^ "US Patent # US 20090191374 A1". US Patent. USPTO. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ a b Wong, Tak-Sing; Kang, Sung Hoon; Tang, Sindy K. Y.; Smythe, Elizabeth J.; Hatton, Benjamin D.; Grinthal, Alison; Aizenberg, Joanna (2011). "Bioinspired self-repairing slippery surfaces with pressure-stable omniphobicity" (PDF). Nature. 477 (7365): 443–447. Bibcode:2011Natur.477..443W. doi:10.1038/nature10447. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 21938066. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ Wilson, Peter W.; Lu, Weizhe; Xu, Haojun; Kim, Philseok; Kreder, Michael J.; Alvarenga, Jack; Aizenberg, Joanna (2013). "Inhibition of ice nucleation by slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS)". Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 15 (2): 581–585. Bibcode:2013PCCP...15..581W. doi:10.1039/C2CP43586A. ISSN 1463-9076. PMID 23183624. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ Epstein, Alexander K.; Wong, Tak-Sing; Belisle, Rebecca A.; Boggs, Emily Marie; Aizenberg, Joanna (2012-08-14). "Liquid-infused structured surfaces with exceptional anti-biofouling performance" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (33): 13182–13187. doi:10.1073/pnas.1201973109. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3421179. PMID 22847405. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ "Adaptive Surface Technologies". Adaptive Surface Technologies. Retrieved 2022-08-17.
- ^ "Slippery surfaces with high pressure stability, optical transparency, and self-healing characteristics".
- ^ "LiquiGlide website". LiquiGlide Inc. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Solomon, Brian R.; Subramanyam, Srinivas Bengaluru; Farnham, Taylor A.; Khalil, Karim S.; Anand, Sushant; Varanasi, Kripa K. (2016). "CHAPTER 10. Lubricant-Impregnated Surfaces". Soft Matter Series. Cambridge: Royal Society of Chemistry. pp. 285–318. doi:10.1039/9781782623953-00285. ISBN 978-1-78262-154-6. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ Chang, Kenneth (2015-03-24). "Solving a Sticky Problem". The New York Times: D4(L)–D4(L). ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
- ^ Yogi, Yashwant S.; Parmar, Harsharaj B.; Fattahi Juybari, Hamid; Nejati, Sina; Rao, Akshay K.; Roy, Rishav; Zarei, Mojtaba; Li, Longnan; Sett, Soumyadip; Das, Abhimanyu; Miljkovic, Nenad; Weibel, Justin A.; Warsinger, David M. (2025-03-15). "Slippery liquid infused porous surface (SLIPS) condensers for high efficiency air gap membrane distillation". Communications Engineering. 4 (1): 48. doi:10.1038/s44172-025-00348-y. ISSN 2731-3395. PMC 11910583. PMID 40089632.
- ^ Rykaczewski, Konrad; Anand, Sushant; Subramanyam, Srinivas Bengaluru; Varanasi, Kripa K. (2013-04-30). "Mechanism of Frost Formation on Lubricant-Impregnated Surfaces". Langmuir. 29 (17): 5230–5238. doi:10.1021/la400801s. ISSN 0743-7463. PMID 23565857.
- ^ Chatterjee, Rukmava; Beysens, Daniel; Anand, Sushant (2019). "Delaying Ice and Frost Formation Using Phase-Switching Liquids". Advanced Materials. 31 (17): 1807812. Bibcode:2019AdM....3107812C. doi:10.1002/adma.201807812. ISSN 1521-4095. PMID 30873685.