Slippery Surfaces: How nanoscience is changing our material world

Discover how Harvard University Professor Joanna Aizenberg’s research is inspired by biology to design slippery surfaces that mimic those found in nature. Her novel nanostructured materials will have huge impacts in areas as diverse as medicine, construction, shipping industries, aircraft industries, fluid handling and transportation, and optical sensing. Inspired by the slippery surfaces of a pitcher plant, Professor Aizenberg and team have invented new technology to create self-healing, anti-fouling materials, called Slippery, Lubricant-Infused Porous Surfaces, or SLIPS. These novel nanostructured materials outperform state-of-the-art materials in their ability to resist ice and microbes sticking to surfaces, repel various simple and complex liquids, prevent marine fouling, or reduce drag. This lecture took place at the University of Sydney in celebration of the launch of the Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at the University of Sydney, which is discovering and harnessing new science at the nanoscale.