Low modulus of polydimethylsiloxane organogel coatings induced low ice adhesion

Abstract

Organogels with low modulus are widely used as anti-icing materials due to their low ice adhesion strength. In this work, the poly(dimethylsiloxane) swelled with silicone oil, trimethyl terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane), vinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxanes, and hydride terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) were prepared, respectively. The organogels with a wide range of shear modulus displayed various ice adhesion strength. In particular, the lowest ice adhesion strength 6.5 kPa was obtained for poly(dimethylsiloxane)/100 trimethyl terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) at −10 °C. After being placed for 60 days, the ice adhesion strength of poly(dimethylsiloxane)/trimethyl terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) almost maintained the previous effect. We believed that the low modulus and the lubricated film co-contributed to this result. However, the even lower modulus of poly(dimethylsiloxane) gels enhanced the ice adhesion strength due to the failure within poly(dimethylsiloxane) gels. Molecular dynamics further demonstrated that the ice adhesion strength was almost independent on the electrostatic interactions and van der Waals. This work opens up new opportunities for tailoring modulus of organogels by tuning structures and composition of de-icing materials.