A thermal-driven self-replenishing slippery coating

The durability of the traditional lubricant impregnated surfaces was limited, due to the instability of the infused liquid lubricants and the mechanical weakness of the underlying textures. Herein, to address this challenge, we developed a carbon black @paraffin/PDMS organogel coating with the thermo-responsive self-replenishing property. The surface wetting behavior of the coating was reversible switching between the pinning state at room temperature to the sliding state for temperature above the melting point of paraffin. Programmable water motion was realized by melting the paraffin lubricant locally. The photothermal ability of the carbon black nanoparticles in the coating can accelerate the phase transition of paraffin to realize a quick self-replenishing upon the thermal trigger. In this way, the coating can heal itself easily under sunlight illumination when physical damage occurred. Exploiting its photothermal ability and water-repellency, the organogel coating was demonstrated as a de-icing surface and corrosion protection layer, respectively.

Automated summary

The organogel coating with thermo-responsive self-replenishing property can achieve programmable water motion and self-healing, suitable for preventing icing and corrosion protection.