Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
07:23
Light-induced Patterning and Grafting for Slippery Surfaces based on Silane-coated Nanoporous Structures
Published on: November 14, 2025
Bioinspired adaptive slippery surfaces: design strategies and emerging applications
Muskan Zuhra1, Kowsar Majid1, Adil Majeed Rather1
1Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Srinagar, J&K, 190006, India. adil_2025dst002071@nitsri.ac.in.
Nanoscale
|August 5, 2026
Summary
Stimuli-responsive slippery surfaces (SRSS) offer dynamic control over liquid-solid interactions, enabling adaptive materials. This review covers SRSS design, mechanisms, and applications for advanced functional interfaces.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Surface Science and Interfacial Phenomena
- Soft Matter Physics
Background:
- Conventional slippery liquid-infused surfaces (SLIPS) offer static omniphobicity but lack dynamic control.
- Limitations of static SLIPS hinder applications in complex, dynamic environments.
- Emergence of stimuli-responsive slippery surfaces (SRSS) for tunable liquid-solid interactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive review of stimuli-responsive and multifunctional slippery surfaces (SRSS).
- To elucidate fundamental design principles, material platforms, and interfacial mechanisms.
- To explore emerging architectures and applications of SRSS.
Main Methods:
- Summary of wetting physics and thermodynamic criteria for lubricant-infused systems.
- Systematic classification of SRSS based on stimulus-response mechanisms.
- Discussion of fabrication strategies and material architectures (e.g., phase-change lubricants, liquid crystals, elastomers, nanocomposites, scaffolds).
Main Results:
- SRSS enable reversible switching between slippery and non-slippery states via external stimuli (temperature, light, fields, pH, deformation).
- Diverse material architectures facilitate programmable control over droplet and bubble mobility.
- Demonstrated applications in droplet manipulation, microfluidics, anti-icing, anti-biofouling, self-healing, and adaptive fluidics.
Conclusions:
- SRSS represent a versatile platform for advanced functional materials by integrating interfacial science and responsive materials engineering.
- Current challenges and future directions towards scalable, durable, and intelligent slippery interfaces are outlined.
- SRSS are poised to enable next-generation adaptive and intelligent material systems.
