OUR PLATFORM
LiquiGlide® technology is custom designed to adhere to a variety of surface materials and survive a range of environmental conditions while meeting applicable regulatory requirements.
SUPER SLIPPERY
DURABLE
CUSTOM DESIGNED
SAFE
SELF-HEALING
LIQUIGLIDE® TECHNOLOGY VS. ALTERNATIVES
LiquiGlide’s slippery coatings are often confused with superhydrophobic surfaces, but there are important differences.
SUPERHYDROPHOBIC
A conventional superhydrophobic surface is a highly textured surface that creates a cushion of air for the product to sit on, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the “lotus leaf effect.” Such surfaces rarely work with viscous liquids and are typically made with materials that are not safe for food applications. Over time, superhydrophobic surfaces break down and lose their slipperiness.
LiquiGlide® technology enables the creation of durable, slippery surfaces by using a proprietary thermodynamic algorithm to pair liquids with solid, textured surfaces that leverage chemical affinity and capillarity to stabilize the liquid. Over time, the surface continues to be slippery because the liquid is held in place between the textures. Because our surfaces can be made from varying combinations of materials, they can be designed for food-safety, harsh industrial environments, and other situational applications.
HOW IT WORKS
PATENTS
We have a robust, growing global IP portfolio that includes more than 160 patent applications from proprietary patent families as well as families exclusively licensed from MIT, from which 19 patents have been granted, and eight of which are in the US.
PUBLICATIONS
Droplet Mobility on Lubricant-Impregnated Surfaces
J.D. Smith, R. Dhiman, S. Anand, E.R. Garduno, R.E. Cohen, G.H. McKinley, K.K. Varanasi Soft Matter, 2012.
Enhanced Condensation on Lubricant-Impregnated Nanotextured Surfaces
S. Anand, A.T. Paxson, R. Dhiman, J.D. Smith, K.K. Varanasi. ACS Nano, 2012.
Liquid-Impregnated Surface Coatings
The Science and Technology Behind “Slippery” Surfaces
Mechanism of Frost Formation on Lubricant-Impregnated Surfaces
K. Rykaczewski, S. Anand, S. B. Subramanyam, and K. K. Varanasi, Langmuir, 2013.
Fog harvesting potential of Lubricant-Impregnated Electrospun Nanomats
Boor Lalia, Sushant Anand, K. K. Varanasi and Raed Hashaikeh, Langmuir, 2013.
Ice adhesion on lubricant-impregnated textured surfaces
Srinivas Bengaluru Subramanyam, Konrad Rykaczewski, and Kripa K Varanasi, Langmuir, 2013.
Designing Lubricant-Impregnated Textured Surfaces to Resist Scale Formation
Srinivas Bengaluru Subramanyam, Gisele Azimi, and Kripa K. Varanasi, 2014.
Dropwise Condensation of Low Surface Tension Fluids on Omniphobic Surfaces
Konrad Rykaczewski, Adam T. Paxson, Matthew Staymates, Marlon L. Walker, Xiaoda Sun, Sushant Anand, Siddarth Srinivasan, Gareth H. McKinley, Jeff Chinn, John Henry J. Scott, and Kripa K. Varanasi, Scientific Reports, 2014.
Active surfaces: Ferrofluid-impregnated surfaces for active manipulation of droplets
Karim S. Khalil, Seyed Reza Mahmoudi, Numan Abu-dheir, and Kripa K. Varanasi. Applied Physics Letter, 2014.
Drag Reduction using Lubricant-Impregnated Surfaces in Viscous Laminar Flow
Brian R. Solomon, Karim S. Khalil, and Kripa K. Varanasi. Langmuir, 2014.
How Droplets Nucleate and Grow on Liquids and Liquid Impregnated Surfaces
Sushant Anand, Konrad Rykaczewski, Srinivas B. Subramanyam, Daniel Beysens, and Kripa K. Varanasi, Soft Matter (Cover article) 2014.
Thermocapillary Motion on Lubricant-Impregnated Surfaces
Nada Bjelobrk, Henri-Louis Girard, Srinivas Bengaluru Subramanyam, Hyuk-Min Kwon, David Quéré, and Kripa K. Varanasi, Physical Review Fluids, 2016.
Lubricant-Impregnated Surfaces, Chapter from the Book “Non-wettable Surfaces : Theory, Preparation and Applications”
Brian R. Solomon, Srinivas Bengaluru Subramanyam, Taylor A. Farnham, Karim S. Khalil, Sushant Anand and Kripa K. Varanasi, From the book Non-wettable Surfaces : Theory, Preparation and Applications, 2016.
Designing Ultra-Low Hydrate Adhesion Surfaces by Interfacial Spreading of Water-Immiscible Barrier Films
Arindam Das, Taylor A. Farnham, Srinivas Bengaluru Subramanyam, and Kripa K. Varanasi, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (Cover Article), 2017.
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