Facile One-Step Method to Fabricate a Slippery Lubricant-Infused Surface (LIS) with Self-Replenishment Properties for Anti-Icing Applications

Juantao Zhang,Hongchang Qian,Qingguo Chen,Fushan Wang,Lingwei Ma,Yan Tian,Bei Liu,Fan Zhang

doi:10.3390/coatings10020119

Abstract

In this work, a slippery lubricant-infused surface (LIS) was prepared by simple one-step mixing of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) resin and dimethyl silicone oil (PMX-200) directly. Silicone oil showed good compatibility with PDMS resin, and the added amount of silicone oil had no significant effect on the surface morphology of LIS. According to the results of surface observations, once the silicone oil film anchored on the LIS was removed, the silicone oil inside the PDMS polymer automatically diffused to the surface and formed a new silicone oil film again in a short time. Furthermore, with the increase of silicone oil content, the oil self-replenishment speed and amount of the LIS were enhanced, which also promoted a decrease of the surface water sliding angle and the improvement of the lubrication ability of the LIS. In the icing/deicing cycle tests, the slippery LIS still maintained very low ice adhesion strength after 24 cycles, showing excellent anti-icing performance.

Highlights

The accumulation of solid ice on the surfaces of metal materials and metal equipment in cold environments aggravate energy consumption, and pose a threat to people’s safety during the shedding process
We introduce a facile and effective one-step mixing method to prepare a self-replenishing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) resin/dimethyl silicone oil lubricant-infused surface (LIS) and study its anti-icing performance for the first time
The PDMS prepolymer used in the preparation process was vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane, and the curing agent was hydroxyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane

Summary

Introduction

The accumulation of solid ice on the surfaces of metal materials and metal equipment in cold environments aggravate energy consumption, and pose a threat to people’s safety during the shedding process. The problem of icing seriously interferes with the electricity transportation, wind power generation, aerospace, and other important fields [1,2,3]. To solve this problem, a variety of deicing methods have been proposed, such as thermal melting and mechanical deicing [4,5,6]. A variety of deicing methods have been proposed, such as thermal melting and mechanical deicing [4,5,6] These methods are difficult to operate or are costly. The development of anti-icing coating or surfaces provides a good idea for this research direction

Methods

Results

Conclusion