Making Sticky‐Slippery Switchable Fluorogels Through Self‐Adaptive Bicontinuous Phase Separation
Xiaoxia Li, Baohu Wu, Shengtong Sun, Peiyi Wu
Abstract
Developing gel materials with tunable frictional properties is crucial for applications in soft robotics, anti-fouling, and joint protection. However, achieving reversible switching between extreme sticky and slippery states remains a formidable challenge due to the opposing requirements for energy dissipation on gel surfaces. Herein, a self-adaptive bicontinuous fluorogel is introduced that decouples lubrication and adhesion at varying temperatures. The phase-separated fluorogel comprises a soft fluorinated lubricating phase and a stiff yet thermal-responsive load-bearing phase. At ambient temperature, the fluorogel exhibits a highly slippery surface owing to a low-energy-dissipating lubricating layer, demonstrating an ultralow friction coefficient of 0.004. Upon heating, the fluorogel transitions into a highly dissipating state via hydrogen bond dissociation, concurrently releasing adhesive dangling chains to make the surface highly sticky with an adhesion strength of ≈362 kPa. This approach provides a promising foundation for creating advanced adaptive materials with on-demand self-adhesive and self-lubricating capabilities.