Photoelectric synergistic anisotropic slippery interface for directional droplets manipulation

Stimuli-responsive anisotropic slippery surfaces have displayed remarkable performance in directionally manipulating droplet transport behavior. However, most current reported anisotropic slippery materials have been limited to a single response mode, which often fails to satisfy the practical conditions of double or synergetic stimulation in complex environments. Here, an anisotropic photoelectric synergistic responsive paraffin-injected directional oxidized copper foam slippery interface (P/DOC₃-S) with a low response threshold is reported. Owing to the fast photoelectric response of P/DOC₃-S, the reversible control of the anisotropic sliding behavior of droplets is realized by remotely switching on and off the photoelectric field. Additionally, through optimizing the structure, the response voltage for P/DOC₃-S can be reduced to 0.3 V under one sunlight. This work will provide insights into creating new types of smart slippery surfaces, which are potentially useful in microfluidics, directional liquid transportation, the semiconductor industry, and other related fields.