Wetting
of surfaces plays a vital role in many biological and industrial
processes. There are several phenomena closely related to wetting
such as biofouling and corrosion that cause the deterioration of materials,
while the efforts to prevent the degradation of surface functionality
have spread over several millennia. Antifouling coatings have been
developed to prevent/delay both corrosion and biofouling, but the
problems remain unsolved, influencing the everyday life of the modern
society in terms of safety and expenses. In this study, liquid-infused
slippery surfaces (LISSs), a recently developed nontoxic repellent
technology, that is, a flat variation of omniphobic slippery liquid-infused
porous surfaces (SLIPSs), were studied for their anti-corrosion and
marine anti-biofouling characteristics on metallic substrates under
damaged and plain undamaged conditions. Austenitic stainless steel
was chosen as a model due to its wide application in aquatic environments.
Our LISS coating effectively prevents biofouling adhesion and decays
corrosion of metallic surfaces even if they are severely damaged.
The mechanically robust LISS reported in this study significantly
extends the SLIPS technology, prompting their application in the marine
environment due to the synergy between the facile fabrication process,
rapid binding kinetics, nontoxic, ecofriendly, and low-cost applied
materials together with excellent repellent characteristics.