Superslippery Long-Chain Entangled Polydimethylsiloxane Gel with Sustainable Self-Replenishment

Abstract

Inspired by mucus-secreting organisms, biomimetic slippery surfaces have been studied in various engineering fields. The liquid-infused polymer surface (LIPS) has received considerable interest because of its ability to store lubricants inside the polymer itself, facile fabrication, and high scalability. However, the conventional LIPS easily loses its slippery property owing to its inability to secrete lubricants to the surface. In this study, a long-chain entangled polydimethylsiloxane (LEP) gel is proposed as a superslippery functional surface with sustainable self-replenishment. The developed LEP gel has large lubricant storage spaces and exhibits an extremely low sliding angle close to 0 degrees because of the low-viscosity oil layer formed on the surface. In addition, although conventional LIPSs easily undergo lubricant drought on their surfaces, the proposed LEP gel continuously secretes low-viscosity oil to the surface. The LEP gel with a superslippery surface shows nearly perfect antifouling performance and reduces 99.97% of bacteria compared with pure polydimethylsiloxane surface. It maintains slippery performance without deterioration even after exposure to harsh conditions, such as high-pressure and high-speed shear flow. The outstanding slippery performance of the proposed LEP gel would be usefully utilized in various engineering fields after further improvement in the future.