Biomimetic lubricant-grafted surfaces on laser-textured microwell arrays with multifunctionality

Abstract

Recently, various slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) have been fabricated for the protection of various materials. However, these SLIPSs are limited by their underlying storage structure and superficial lubricant layer, showing poor durability. Herein, inspired by the high-strength structure of Shell nacre’s “brick-mud” layer, we fabricated an all-inorganic composite coating by using wet chemically etched MXene as a brick and an aluminum phosphate binder (AP) as mud. Then, a series of microwell-array structures were designed and prepared on the coating via nanosecond ultrafast laser writing ablation technology. Subsequently, the textured surface was modified by a silane coupling agent. Vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was tightly grafted onto the porous surface through a thiol-ene click reaction to obtain lubricant grafted texture surface (LGTS). The prepared LGTS showed good lubrication properties for multiple phases, including various liquids, ice crystals, and solids. It exhibits excellent chemical stability and mechanical durability under deionized water impact, centrifugal test, strong acid solutions, anti/de-icing cycles, and high-intensity friction. Thus, the proposed strategy for constructing robust LGTS will greatly promote theoretical research on super wetting interfacial materials and their applications in the fields of antifouling, anti/de-icing, and lubricating protection.