The Device Using a Polydimethylsiloxane Membrane and the Phase Transition of Water

Yan Deng,Ping Gu,Yinbo Zhu,Hengan Wu,Zijian Chen

doi:10.3390/coatings11091102

Abstract

The accumulation of ice on surfaces can cause harm in many industries. Our work describes an experiment and a simulation of the deicing effect based on a simple device combining a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane and water phase transition. The device resulted in a minimum ice adhesion strength of 0.327 kPa, and the ice adhesion strength was still less than 5 kPa after 15 cycles, which meets the requirements of automatic deicing. It also held up after flushing with water and sand currents. In addition, our finite element simulation illustrates that the ice adhesion strength decreases greatly due to the change in initial stress distribution and the separation mode of ice. The fracture between the ice and membrane initiates from one side, and propagates gradually along the contour of ice while at the same time spreading rapidly towards the center. Compared with other icephobic methods, such as expensive and vulnerable micro/nano-surfaces or functional composite coatings, this low-cost and environment friendly device appears promising for large-scale deicing applications in various engineering fields.

Highlights

Ice accumulation causes great economic losses and severe harm, especially in cold regions
Recent reports proved that the adhesion strength between ice and a hydrophobic, rough surface is greater than that of flat surface in high-humidity and low-temperature environment, because mechanical interlocking occurs when water enters into the micro/nano-structure gradually and freezes [13,14]
A simple and reusable active deicing device was prepared by filling the holes of PMMA plates with deionized water and attaching a PDMS membrane to the PMMA’s surface

Summary

Introduction

Ice accumulation causes great economic losses and severe harm, especially in cold regions. Inspired by the water repulsion of lotus leaves, superhydrophobic surfaces with micro/nano-structures are studied extensively for anti-icing/deicing [8,9,10]. Air cavitation between water droplets and a hydrophobic, rough surface delays ice nucleation and decreases the contact area between the ice and the surface, which lowers the ice’s adhesion strength [10,11,12]. Recent reports proved that the adhesion strength between ice and a hydrophobic, rough surface is greater than that of flat surface in high-humidity and low-temperature environment, because mechanical interlocking occurs when water enters into the micro/nano-structure gradually and freezes [13,14]. Lower ice adhesion strength can be obtained if the volume-adjusted elastic modulus and surface energy of the substrate are smaller. Golovin et al fabricated PDMS coatings with an oil layer to maintain the low adhesion strength of less than 10 kPa after

Methods

Results

Conclusion