An integrated superhydrophobic anti/de-icing film heater with low energy consumption: Interpenetration behavior of components based on wet-film spraying method

Abstract

The integrated anti-/de-icing technology with electrothermal and superhydrophobic functions is becoming a research focus in the aerospace field due to its potential advantages of energy saving. In this work, a novel integrated superhydrophobic film heater was prepared by combining the solution casting with the wet-film spraying method to reduce the interface thermal resistance between electrothermal and superhydrophobic regions. The superhydrophobic film heater sample had the same heating effect as the hydrophilic film at room temperature, and the peak temperature could reach around 87.79 °C under 3018 W/m2 loading power at −30 °C. On the other hand, the superhydrophobic film could delay the icing time by about 265 s and reduce icing adhesion at −10 °C. Compared with the conventional film heater, the integrated superhydrophobic film heater could save energy consumption by up to 27.37 % for de-icing at −10 °C. Moreover, the interpenetration behavior between PVDF, EVA, CNT, and F-SiO2 enhanced the superhydrophobic durability. The superhydrophobic film heater still had a well hydrophobic effect after 150 cycles of wear experiment. This work contributes to a better understanding of the coupling performance between superhydrophobic and electrothermal functions, which could promote the development of novel multifunction anti/de-icing materials in the aerospace field.