Highly cross‐linked UV‐cured siloxane copolymer networks as icephobic coatings

Abstract

AbstractPreventing ice growth on infrastructure, vehicles, and appliances remains a significant engineering challenge. Damage caused by ice growth on these installations can be expensive to repair, and their failure can be dangerous. Materials such as cross‐linked polymer networks make effective anti‐ice coatings and can prevent ice growth: reducing the cost of infrastructure repairs and limiting downtime. A link between cross‐link density and ice adhesion has been demonstrated, such that lower cross‐link density materials tend toward lower ice adhesion. Here we describe a method of lowering cross‐link density by incorporating the covalently bound comonomers methyl methacrylate, lauryl methacrylate, and styrene into UV‐cured PDMS‐based polymer networks. Cross‐link density, hardness, surface roughness, and ice adhesion on these materials are tested, showing the influence of comonomer proportions on their properties. Durability is found to increase with the addition of 5, 10, and 25 wt% comonomer, with little to no effect on ice adhesion until 25 wt%, where increases in ice adhesion are observed. Coatings show promisingly low ice adhesion of ~50 kPa, maintaining this low adhesion for up to 50 deicing cycles.