Omniphobic, ice-repellent, anti-bacterial, slippery liquid-infused porous surface (SLIPS) using sprayable chitin nanofiber coating

Abstract

Here, we introduce a novel slippery lubricant-infused porous surface (SLIPS) based on chitin nanofibers (ChNF) coating. The ChNF porous coating layers are simply formed using a common spray-coating method, into which a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) oil is infused as the lubricant. The ChNF-based SLIPS is optically transparent and exhibits an excellent omniphobic liquid repellency towards both high-/low-surface-tension fluids. In addition, taking advantage of the simple material-processing combination, we also demonstrate a large-scale fabrication of the ChNF-based SLIPS on a non-flat surface and test common real-life complex fluids (e.g., Ketchup) to verify its practical applicability. In addition, the ChNF-based SLIPS possess an outstanding ice-phobicity with a low ice adhesion strength as well as excellent anti-bacterial property.