Harvard slips into commercialisation

Harvard University is spinning out Slips Technologies, a new company which will commercialise a coating that is able to repel almost any type of liquid and solid.

Based on research at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, the company was spun out by the university’s Office of Technology Development. Its name stems from its eponymous technology, an acronym for slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces.

Slips has been developed as a platform for non-medical applications, and was invented by Joanna Aizenberg, professor of materials science at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as well as a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute. Aizenberg’s co-inventors are Philseok Kim, a senior research scientist at the institute, and Tak–Sing Wong, a former post-doctoral fellow at the institute.

The technology can be applied to metals, plastics, optics, textiles and ceramics and essentially makes them self-cleaning as it repels almost any liquid and solid – including rain, dust and bacteria – it comes into contact with.

Joanna Aizenberg, co-founder of Slips Technologies, said: “We introduced and developed a novel systems-based approach. By immobilising a liquid layer on top of any surface and by customising the design for the specific physical, chemical and environmental conditions of each application, we can effectively create exceptional hybrid materials that deliver almost perfect slipperiness and anti–fouling performance.”