Controlled Integration of Interconnected Pores under Polymeric Surfaces for Low Adhesion and Antiscaling Performance

Abstract

Low-adhesive surfaces have been highlighted due to the potentials to mitigate fouling issues by preventing unwanted substances from adhering. Realizing superhydrophobicity with 3D surface structures/chemical modifiers or fabricating lubricant-assisted slippery surfaces has been demonstrated to realize low-adhesive surfaces. However, they still need to overcome the transition to Wenzel from Cassie states of droplets on 3D surface structures or the lubricant depletion issues of slippery surfaces for sustainable operations. Herein, we report the fabrication of low-adhesive polymeric surfaces, neither assisted by 3D surface structures/chemical modifiers nor lubricants, which is realized by embedding the interconnected pore networks underneath the top smooth surface using a water steaming method. The fabricated silicone surfaces exhibit low-adhesive properties due to the stress concentration effects generated by the subsurface-structured pores, favorable for easy detachment of the adherent from the surface. Our platform can be exploited to lower adhesion of superhydrophilic surfaces or to achieve ultralow-adhesive properties upon combination with superhydrophobicity. Finally, scale precipitation tests reveal 4.2 times lower scale accumulation of our low-adhesive polymeric surfaces than that in control samples.