Photothermal responsive slippery surfaces based on laser-structured graphene@PVDF composites

• Published in: Journal of colloid and interface science Vol. 629; pp. 582 - 592
• Main Authors: Jiao, Zhi-Zhen, Zhou, Hao, Han, Xing-Chen, Han, Dong-Dong, Zhang, Yong-Lai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.01.2023
• Subjects: Graphene composite; Laser fabrication; Photothermal response; Slippery surface; Photothermal response; Laser fabrication; Slippery surface; Graphene composite
• ISSN: 0021-9797; 1095-7103
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.08.153

[Display omitted] Photothermal responsive slippery surfaces with switchable superwettability are promising in the fields of biomedicine, self-cleaning, anti-corrosion, and lab-on-a-chip systems. However, the development of a light switchable slippery surface that combines high-performance photothermal materials with hierarchical microstructures of special orientation remains challenging, which limits the applications in anisotropic droplet manipulation. Herein, we demonstrate a photothermal responsive slippery surface based on laser-structured graphene and polyvinylidene difluoride composites (L-G@PVDF) for controllable droplet manipulation. The L-G@PVDF film exhibits high light absorption (∼95.4%) in the visible and NIR region. After lubricating with paraffin, the resultant surface shows excellent self-healing ability and light-responsive wettability change due to the photothermal effect of L-G@PVDF and the hot melting effect of paraffin. Additionally, by introducing anisotropic grooved structures, the paraffin-infused L-G@PVDF surface displays anisotropic wettability that further affects droplet manipulation under light irradiation. Also, the photothermal responsive slippery property endows the paraffin-infused L-G@PVDF surface with excellent anti-frosting and de-icing capability. Moreover, the smart paraffin-infused L-G@PVDF surface can be combined with a microfluidics chip for light-driven automatic sampling. This study offers insight into the rational design of photothermal responsive slippery surfaces for controllable droplet manipulation.