Digitally fabricated 3D slippery architectures for multifunctional liquid manipulation

The primary challenge in creating controllable liquid-based materials lies in managing the structural complexities and multiscale interfaces that govern solid, liquid, and gas phase interactions. Current fabrication methods for liquid-infused surfaces lack topological flexibility, limiting them to planar and simple-patterned structures. Conversely, digitally fabricating slippery architectural materials marks a significant shift towards scalable microprinting of complex, topologically slippery designs. This paper introduces a method for digitally fabricating slippery objects with solid–liquid composite interfaces and geometric design freedom. The slippery architecture has been demonstrated through digital printing of photopolymerization-induced multiphase materials and photoinduced grafting, enabling precise control over structural topologies and slippery properties of infused liquids. This versatile platform facilitates the fabrication of structures at multiple scales, enhancing liquid manipulation, droplet evaporation, and biomedical microfluidic chip design. These methods advance beyond conventional techniques, showcasing the potential of architected slippery surfaces with controlled structural scales. Control of liquid-based materials is important for developing materials based on these, but topological flexibility is limited. Here, the authors report a method for digital fabrication of slippery objects with solid-liquid composite interfaces and geometric design freedom.