Tough lubricant organogels with recyclable microstructured surfaces for versatile applications

Abstract Lubricant-infused slippery organogels have emerged as promising materials in diverse practical applications. Nonetheless, the fabrication of lubricant organogels with surface microstructures remains challenging. Inspired by glassy plastics, we report a novel hot-pressing strategy for the reversible construction of microstructured surfaces for droplet manipulation. To achieve this, we design a tough, thermo-softening organogel by copolymerizing isobornyl methacrylate (IBMA) and perfluorooctylethyl acrylate (PFOEA), with perfluoropolyether incorporated as a lubricant. The PFOEA segments and lubricant provide excellent lubricity, endowing the organogels with self-cleaning, water harvesting and anti-icing properties. Furthermore, the rigid and solvophobic IBMA units stabilize the network at room temperature and impart exceptional thermo-softening behavior. Upon heating from 20 °C to 60 °C, the elastic modulus of the organogel decreases by over 1800-fold, from 67 MPa to 0.037 MPa. This significant thermo-softening property facilitates the straightforward fabrication of functional surface microstructures via hot-pressing, allowing the organogels to perform droplet manipulation tasks such as directional transportation, merging, and mixing. Furthermore, the microstructures can be easily erased and reformed by reheating. Collectively, this work presents a novel approach to constructing lubricant organogels with microstructured surfaces, offering significant potential for versatile applications.