Slippery\nAntifouling Polymer Coatings Fabricated Entirely\nfrom Biodegradable and Biocompatible Components

We report the design of slippery\nliquid-infused porous surfaces\n(SLIPS) fabricated from building blocks that are biodegradable, edible,\nor generally regarded to be biocompatible. Our approach involves infusion\nof lubricating oils, including food oils, into nanofiber-based mats\nfabricated by electrospinning or blow spinning of poly­(ε-caprolactone),\na hydrophobic biodegradable polymer used widely in medical implants\nand drug delivery devices. This approach leads to durable and biodegradable\nSLIPS that prevent fouling by liquids and other materials, including\nmicrobial pathogens, on objects of arbitrary shape, size, and topography.\nThis degradable polymer approach also provides practical means to\ndesign “controlled-release” SLIPS that release molecular\ncargo at rates that can be manipulated by the properties of the infused\noils (e.g., viscosity or chemical structure). Together, our results\nprovide new designs and introduce useful properties and behaviors\nto antifouling SLIPS, address important issues related to biocompatibility\nand environmental persistence, and thus advance new potential applications,\nincluding the use of slippery materials for food packaging, industrial\nand marine coatings, and biomedical implants.