EVERYTHING SLIPS: Design of Novel Omniphobic Nanocoatings

Liquids entrapped within a nanostructured solid begin to exhibit unique behaviors often providing the surrounding material with unprecedented properties. Recently we have introduced a new technology to create self-healing, anti-fouling materials (so-called Slippery, Lubricant-Infused Porous Surfaces, or SLIPS). These bioinspired coatings that mimic slippery surfaces of a pitcher plant outperform state-of-the-art materials in their ability to resist ice and microbial adhesion, repel various simple and complex liquids, prevent marine fouling, or reduce drag. Generalized design principles for stable, shear-tolerant nanostructured SLIPS and low-cost, scalable methods to form such coatings on glass, ceramics, polymers, fabrics and metals will be presented. The performance of SLIPS in condensers, heat exchangers, membranes, and medical devices will be discussed. We anticipate that slippery surfaces can find important applications as antifouling materials in medicine, construction, naval and aircraft industries, fluid handling and transportation, optical sensing, and as antifouling surfaces against highly contaminating media operating in extreme environments.

Speaker: Joanna Aizenberg, Harvard