3D Printed Omniphobic Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces for Low Surface Tension Repellency

Omniphobicity is gaining increasing interest due to its ability to promote dynamic liquid mobility and impart multifunctional properties, such as self-cleaning, antifouling, and anti-icing. Among the strategies for achieving omniphobicity, Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces (SLIPS) stand out for their ability to repel liquids across a wide range of surface tensions with high stability. However, so far, integrating SLIPS into complex 3D structures while maintaining omniphobicity and low surface-tension repellency has remained challenging. Here, we report the fabrication of omniphobic 3D-printed SLIPS via digital light processing (DLP). The printed architectures feature an internal reservoir connected to the surface through microchannel networks, enabling stable retention and continuous replenishment of a fluorinated lubricant. A photocurable ink composed of acrylate monomers and silica nanoparticles was formulated to enable 3D printing of high-resolution porous structures, which were subsequently silanized with a fluorinated precursor to ensure lubricant compatibility and enhance mechanical robustness. The resulting SLIPS exhibited very low sliding angles, including 3.5° ± 0.5° for water and 2.0° ± 0.4° for n-hexane, and self-cleaning capabilities. This work presents a versatile strategy for designing 3D omniphobic SLIPS architectures unattainable by other fabrication methods, with potential applications in antifouling, anti-icing, and multifunctional devices such as soft robotics.