Facile Fabrication of Robust Ice‐Phobic Polyurethane Sponges

Abstract

Bio‐inspired superhydrophobicity is a promising anti‐icing (or deicing) strategy, but a superhydrophobic surface may lose its anti‐icing capability once the deposited water freezes. Herein, it is shown that ice can be readily and repeatedly removed from the surface of superhydrophobic polyurethane sponges via a simple mechanical squeezing process. The sponges are fabricated through a mussel‐inspired process and subsequent deposition of Ag nanoparticles. The resulting sponges are able to shed off the ice layers formed on their surfaces up to 90 times, exhibiting robust icephobic properties among the reported superhydrophobic surfaces. The mechanism for the excellent icephobicity is investigated by a highly sensitive microelectrobalance and a fluorescent labeling method. It is revealed that the icephobicity is attributed to low ice adhesion of the superhydrophobic sponges, as well as mechanical durability of their surface textures. The present findings provide a facile strategy to fabricate robust icephobic surfaces for various technological applications.