A facile method to prepare mechanically durable super slippery polytetrafluoroethylene coatings

Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces (SLIPS) have received much attention in the past few years, due to their excellent non-stick, ultra-liquid repellent, self-healing properties, as both industrial and medical materials. We have developed a porous PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)-based SLIPS coating, in which pores are introduced using a PTFE emulsion containing NaCl and ZnAc2; NaCl was found to be a necessary ingredient. The durability of the coatings was evaluated by water impact, sandpaper abrasion and hot-air testing; we found that the stability of the coating are affected by the sizes of the pores and surface microstructures. The best performance and durability of the SLIPS occurs for a nanoporous/nanotextured surface, unlike a superhydrophobic surface, which is associated with hierarchical structures.