ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 10 -- United States Patent no. 12,291,651, issued on May 6, was assigned to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (Madison, Wis.).
"Liquid crystal-infused slippery anti-fouling surfaces" was invented by David Lynn (Middleton, Wis.) and Harshit Agarwal (Madison, Wis.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention provides liquid crystal (LC)-infused materials and methods for detecting compounds or impurities in liquid samples using such materials. These slippery materials comprise a lubricating liquid, preferably a thermotropic liquid crystal, and a solid substrate able to immobilize or host the lubricating liquid. The portion of the substrate coated by the lubricati...