Excellent Anti-icing Properties Research Articles

Biomimetic super slippery surface with excellent and durable anti-icing property for immovable heritage conservation

The formation and accumulation of ice on solid surface is not only a potential threat to our daily life, but also a hazard to cultural heritages, such as murals, grottoes, monuments, ancient buildings. Inspired by slippery inner surface of Nepenthes, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPSs) for anti-icing attract a lot of attention recently. In this work, dip-coating approach is utilized to create a hydrophobic silica layer grafted with long-chain organic molecules. After infusing the oil phase, a three-layer Nepenthes-like structure is formed. The SLIPS shows excellent anti-icing property. It reduces the ice-surface adhesion strength to 0 kPa on non-porous surface and 6.83 kPa on porous surface (sandstone from Yungang Grottoes) respectively. After 35 icing/de-icing cycles, the SLIPS still shows good anti-icing ability. Our results show that the middle long-chain organic layer not only enhances the surface hydrophobicity but also increases its affinity with the oil phase to reduce lubricating oil loss, thus increasing its anti-icing durability. When the anti-icing ability decreases with time, simple re-infusing the oil phase can easily restore the anti-icing performance to its original level. The SLIPSs prepared in this work show outstanding hydrophobicity, ice repellency, durability and satisfying water vapor permeability on treated porous sandstones, which makes it potential to protect immovable cultural heritages from ice hazard.

Facile fabrication of durable and fluorine-free liquid infused surfaces on aluminum substrates with excellent anti-icing, anticorrosion, and antibiofouling properties

Marine biofouling has a significant impact on marine industry and activities. Various slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) for marine antibiofouling have been reported in recent years. However, these surfaces are limited to a few substrates, require a complicated construction procedure, and have a low durability. In this regard, simple, efficient and eco-environmental-friendly methods were used to fabricate SLIPS coatings on aluminum substrates with durable and efficient properties. The chemically etched and grinded aluminum substrates were modified to fabricate hydrophobic surfaces by the application of stearic acid (SA) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) porous coatings. Both SA-modified and PDMS-modified porous hydrophobic surfaces were infused with silicone oil to obtain SLIPS (SLIPS-SA and SLIPS-PDMS). The qualities of two hydrophobic surfaces (SA and PDMS) and their corresponding slippery surfaces (SLIPS-SA and SLIPS-PDMS) were investigated. Wetting studies revealed that the as-prepared slippery surfaces have hydrophobic properties and a low sliding angle, suggesting the formation of a homogeneous and smooth oil layer. Furthermore, results showed that both SLIPS are durable and could retain their slippery properties even after 30 days of immersion in artificial acid rain and saturated saline solution. The optimum SLIPS with very low ice adhesion prolonged the water droplet freezing time over two times compared to the bare aluminum substrate. The hydrophobic surfaces displayed inferior anti-icing, anticorrosion, and antibiofouling performance; however, the lubricant-infused surfaces revealed considerably enhanced anti-icing, anticorrosion, and antibiofouling performance. This approach can be applicable to a wide variety of metal substrates and alloys because of its simplicity, which is critical for the production of SLIPS and expanding their applications in marine environments.

Integrating Fly Ash-Controlled Surface Morphology and Candle Grease Coating: Access to Highly Hydrophobic Poly (L-lactic Acid) Composite for Anti-Icing Application

New ways of recycling fly ash are of great significance for reducing the environmental pollution. In this work, biodegradable hydrophobic poly (L-lactic acid)/fly ash composites for anti-icing application were successfully fabricated via a facile solvent-volatilization-induced phase separation approach. A silane coupling agent of 3-(Trimethoxysilyl) propyl methacrylate was used to decorate a fly ash surface (FA@KH570) for strengthening the interface bonding between fly ash and poly (L-lactic acid). Moreover, FA@KH570 could obviously enhance the crystallinity of poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA)/FA@KH570 composites, which accelerated the conversion from the liquid-liquid to the liquid-solid phase separation principle. Correspondingly, the controllable surface morphology from smooth to petal-like microspheres was attained simply by adjusting the FA@KH570 content. After coating nontoxic candle grease, the apparent contact angle of 5 wt% PLLA/FA@KH570 composite was significantly increased to an astonishing 151.2°, which endowed the composite with excellent anti-icing property. This strategy paves the way for recycling waste fly ash and manufacturing hydrophobic poly (L-lactic acid) composite for potential application as an anti-icing material for refrigerator interior walls.

Facile designing a superhydrophobic anti-icing surface applied for reliable long-term deicing

While superhydrophobic coatings have shown promise as potential anti-icing coatings, the surface roughness of these coatings is prone to damage during repeated icing-deicing cycles. Herein, two kinds of superhydrophobic anti-icing coatings are prepared from organic resin and micro-nano particles using two strategies, and their excellent anti-icing properties are also investigated. However, superhydrophobic surface I (SF1), prepared by first strategy, cannot be used for extended periods of time due to irreversible damage to the surface roughness during the icing–deicing process. Finite element simulations and experimental studies are preformed to investigate the fatal issue of such roughness damage. In contrast, the anti-icing properties of superhydrophobic surface II (SF2), prepared by second strategy, can easily regain through a simple sandpaper abrasion treatment even the surface roughness was damaged during the icing–deicing process. These exploratory results and SF2 preparation strategy provide a facile design of anti-icing coating, and the derived restorable anti-icing coating is expected to be useful for a wide application.

Photothermal Solid Slippery Surfaces with Rapid Self-Healing, Improved Anti/De-Icing and Excellent Stability.

Icing phenomenon that occurs universally in nature and industry gets a great impact on human life. Over the past decades, extensive efforts have been made for a wide range of anti-icing/deicing surfaces, but the preparation of anti-icing/deicing interfaces that combine stability, rapid self-healing and excellent anti-icing/deicing performance remains a challenge. In this study, a photothermal solid slippery surface with excellent comprehensive performance is prepared by integrating cellulose acetate film, carbon nanotubes with paraffin wax (CCP). Apart from the excellent anti-icing and deicing properties at -17± 1.0°C under 1 sun illumination, the surface can further achieve deicing at temperatures as low as -22± 1.0°C under infrared light. The fabricated surface also exhibits great stability when placed in harsh conditions such as underwater or ultra-low temperature environments for over 30days. Even when suffering from physical damage, the prepared surface can rapidly self-repair under 1 sun illumination or near-infrared (NIR) illumination within 16.0± 1.5s. Due to the rapid and repeatable self-healing performance, the lubricating properties of the interface material do not deteriorate even after 50 repeated abrasing-repairing cycles. The photothermal solid slippery surface possesses wide-ranging applications and commercial value at high latitude and altitude regions.

In-situ fabrication of superhydrophobic surface on copper with excellent anti-icing and anti-corrosion properties

The accumulation of ice on electrical construction works not only leads to the reduced efficiency of power supply and heat exchangers, but also increases the energy losses and even brings about serious disasters. Therefore, it is essential to reduce or eliminate the issue of ice accumulation on metal constructions. Nowadays, superhydrophobic surfaces have received lots of attentions for their outstanding hydrophobicity. In this study, Cu(OH)2 nano grass was firstly in-situ constructed on copper surface via simple anodization, then superhydrophobic CuO nano needles were obtained after the dehydration of Cu(OH)2 and modification with fluoro-alkyl silanes. The results showed that when the anodic oxidation temperature was 20 °C and the current density was 2 mA·cm−2, nano-needle-like multistage micro-nano structures can be obtained. The as-prepared superhydrophobic surface showed the water contact angle as large as 162° and sliding angle lower to 4°. Additionally, the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface displayed outstanding anti-icing property, delaying icing substantially even under − 10 °C environment regardless of droplet volume and type. Moreover, it also revealed good anti-corrosion property with a corrosion current density of 2.2 × 10−8 Ω·cm2 and the corrosion resistance of 1.55 × 106 Ω·cm2 which is about three order of magnitudes than that of bare copper. We prospect that this easily prepared surface can provide a solution of anti-icing and anti-corrosion for electrical construction works and large-scale metals.

Fabrication of a superhydrophobic micron-nanoscale hierarchical structured surface for delayed icing and reduced frosting

Multifunctional superhydrophobic surfaces with dual-scale hierarchical structures have drawn considerable interest in real-world applications. The complicated fabricating process, higher costs, and poor durability limit the widespread utilization of bio-inspired superhydrophobic surfaces. Herein, we use an effective method to create a micron-nanoscale (dual-scale) hierarchical structure, which is composed of a micron-scaled rough structure constructed by a chemical-etching process and a secondary nanostructure obtained by hydrophobic nano silica (SiO2) modification. The micron-nanoscale hierarchical structured surface has superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 161.5°±1.9°. Compared with the micron-scaled rough structure surface, the manufactured micron-nanoscale hierarchical structured surface presented excellent anti-icing properties with a freezing delay time of 5013.6 s at -15 °C. The frost layer on the micron-nanoscale hierarchical structured surface can be rapidly melted to transform into some isolated water droplets in about 7 s due to its ultra-low water adhesion force. Additionally, the prepared superhydrophobic micron-nanoscale hierarchical structured surface has chemical stability and mechanical durability except for the delayed icing and reduced frosting performance. The construction of a micron-nanoscale hierarchical structure is expected to expand superhydrophobic surface applications in anti-icing, anti-frosting, and self-cleaning.

TiO2-based slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces with excellent ice-phobic performance

Ice formation and accretion on surfaces of instruments such as infrastructures, power lines and aircrafts can trigger serious social danger, economic loss and threaten the safety of lives. It is of practical significance to develop functionalized passive anti-icing surfaces. Herein, we synthesized titanium dioxide nanotube arrays on titanium substrate through anodic oxidation method. The TiO2 nanotube arrays were further modified and infused with perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricant to form slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS). The relationship of the nanostructures and the slippery performance, the liquid holding property and anti-icing property of TiO2 based SLIPS was investigated in details. The contact angle hysteresis (CAH) and sliding angles of water droplets on the TiO2 SLIPS are as low as 1° and 4°, respectively, indicating the excellent slippery property of the SLIPS. The CAH of water droplets on TiO2 SLIPS could be still as low as 5° after being treated with 100 mL of flowing water, which show the long term stability and superior liquid holding property of the TiO2 SLIPS. We propose that the excellent slippery property and long term stability for holding liquid of TiO2 SLIPS attribute to the uniform nanostructures, the small diameter of the nanotubes, the smooth surface and high capillary force of TiO2 nanotube arrays. Both the icing delay tests and the ice adhesion force tests conducted on TiO2 SLIPS indicate that the long-term ice-phobic stability is strongly correlated with the surface smoothness and uniformity of nanostructures. The results show that large water droplets with size about 15 μL on TiO2 NT based SLIPS can keep as liquid phase at very low temperature (–15 ℃) for up to 24 h, which exhibits much longer icing delay time at –15 ℃ than most of the reported superhydrophobic surfaces and SLIPS. And the TiO2 SLIPS exhibit very good icing delay effect even after being reused for 17 times at –15 ℃, indicating the superior long-term stability and anti-icing effect of TiO2 SLIPS as passive ice-phobic surfaces. The ice adhesion force of icicles on TiO2 SLIPS was as low as ∼50 kPa after the tenth test, further indicating their long-term stability as anti-icing surfaces. In summary, the TiO2 nanotube arrays based SLIPS obtained in this work exhibit superior slippery property, anti-biofouling, excellent anti-icing property and long term stability after being treated with a large amount of flowing water or reused for many times under very low temperature. This work shows that SLIPS can be applied as ice-phobic surfaces with long term stability at low temperature, potentially useful for their practical applications as anti-icing and ice-phobic surfaces.

Superhydrophobic and photothermal deicing composite coating with self-healing and anti-corrosion for anti-icing applications

The phenomenon of surface ice accumulation in low temperature and high humidity environments brings significant challenges to economy, energy, and security. Superhydrophobic surfaces with micro-nano structures are considered as effective anti-icing surfaces. However, deicing can damage the micro-nano structures and increase the ice adhesion strength. Herein, a low-adhesion, superhydrophobic photothermal response coating was introduced by combining micro-nano surface and lubricated surface, which exhibits low adhesion self-healing photothermal de-icing performance. The surface temperature rises rapidly to 85 °C under 1 solar irradiation and the frozen droplet can melt within 150 s. The prepared coating has a contact angle of up to 162° and a rolling angle as low as 4.8°. The superhydrophobicity enabled the coating to have excellent anti-icing property with icing delay times up to 596 s. Ice and frost layers on the coating surface can melt and fall off illuminating with light. In addition, beeswax as phase change materials contributes to the coating's efficient self-healing properties. The coating can restore its excellent superhydrophobicity and surface morphology quickly via a simple heat treatment after suffering chemical and mechanical damage. The coating design strategy will provide inspiration for natural solar photothermal anti-icing surfaces and engineering applications.

Environment-adaptable PAM/PVA Semi-IPN hydrogels reinforced by GO for high electromagnetic shielding performance

In this work, one type of mechanically robust, lithium chloride (LiCl)-containing semi-interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogel consisting of crosslinked polyacrylamide (PAM) and linear polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) chains and reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) was fabricated, which had excellent anti-dehydration, anti-icing and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance. The experimental results showed PAM/PVA/GO/LiCl hydrogels had excellent cyclic compression recovery performance. The compressive strength of PAM/PVA (6 wt%)/GO (0.1 wt%)/LiCl (12 mol/1000 g PVA/GO solution) (PAM/PVA 6 /GO 0.1 /LiCl 12 ) hydrogel was almost unchanged after 10 compression cycles at a compressive strain of 70%. The water retention rate of PAM/PVA 6 /GO 0.1 /LiCl 12 hydrogels was nearly 100% under the conditions of 25 °C and 30% RH for 30 h. In addition, the hydrogels had good flexibility even at −50 °C, demonstrating excellent anti-icing properties. The hydrogels exhibited excellent electrical conductivity and EMI shielding performance whose shielding effectiveness was beyond 37.2 dB, showing potential applications in wearable devices, sensors or telecommunications. • Mechanically robust semi-interpenetrating network hydrogels were fabricated. • Excellent anti-dehydration and anti-icing properties of hydrogels were achieved. • PAM/PVA/GO/LiCl hydrogel exhibited excellent EMI shielding performance.

Multifunctional Ti3C2Tx MXene-Based Composite Coatings with Superhydrophobic Anti-icing and Photothermal Deicing Properties.

Although advances in industrial products have brought convenience to our lives, severe weather has increased the safety risks to industrial facilities. Considerable efforts have been made to develop high-performance superhydrophobic anti-icing coatings. Nevertheless, designing a functional coating with both anti-icing properties and self-deicing remains a major challenge. Here, we propose a design strategy to exploit a photothermal superhydrophobic multifunctional coating with excellent anti-icing and deicing properties based on MXene by high-temperature sintering and layer-by-layer coating. Specifically, poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) particles provide low surface energy and binding effects. Room-temperature-vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV) enhances the dispersion of the composite particles and the adhesion of the functional coating to a glass substrate. Furthermore, the functional coatings constructed with MXene exhibit outstanding photothermal effects, imparting excellent superhydrophobicity (CA = 160.18°, SA = 1.8°) and efficient photothermal conversion (equilibrium temperature of 109.3 °C). An anti-icing/deicing test is simulated to confirm their efficient anti-icing/deicing performance in practical applications. Overall, the functional coatings designed in this work can be applied in real industrial facilities.

Facile Fabrication of Fluorine-Free, Anti-Icing, and Multifunctional Superhydrophobic Surface on Wood Substrates.

Building superhydrophobic protective layers on the wood substrates is promising in terms of endowing them with multiple functions, including water-repellent, self-cleaning, anti-icing functions. In this study, multifunctional superhydrophobic wood was successfully fabricated by introducing SiO2 sol and superhydrophobic powder (PMHOS). The SiO2 sol was prepared using tetraethoxysilane as a precursor and ethanol was used as the dispersant. The PMHOS was synthesized using poly(methylhydrogen)siloxane (PMHS) and ethanol. As a result, the obtained superhydrophobic wood had a water contact angle (WCA) of 156° and a sliding angle (SA) of 6° at room temperature. The obtained superhydrophobic wood exhibited excellent repellency toward common liquid (milk, soy sauce, juice, and coffee). The superhydrophobic layer on the wood surface also exhibited good durability after a series of mechanical damages, including finger wiping, tape peeling, knife scratching, and sandpaper abrasion. In addition, the obtained superhydrophobic wood showed excellent anti-icing properties.

Mussel-inspired durable superhydrophobic/superoleophilic MOF-PU sponge with high chemical stability, efficient oil/water separation and excellent anti-icing properties

The discharge of oily wastewaters is one of the major challenges in recent years due to its significant threat to the environment and human health. Herein, we prepared durable superhydrophobic/superoleophilic polyurethane (PU) sponge by decorating UiO-66-(COOH)2 MOF nanoparticles via self-polymerization of dopamine and chemically modifying with low surface energy materials. Owing to the high mechanical and chemical stability of UiO-66-(COOH)2 MOF nanoparticles, the MOF-PU sponge exhibits excellent chemical stability, thermal stability and mechanical durability in terms of being immersed in the corrosive mixtures and the boiling water, and the sandpaper abrasion tests, respectively. The MOF-PU sponge can absorb oils (or organic solvents) ranging from 29 to 56 times of its own weight, and shows an excellent separation efficiency for more than 96% even after 15 cycles. Besides, the MOF-PU sponge exhibits excellent anti-icing property with the icing delay time as long as 2040 s at − 15 ± 1 ℃. Thus, the MOF-PU sponge with above excellent properties has a great potential use in the practical application of efficient oil/water separation in the harsh environments.

Hygroscopic hydrophobic coatings from cellulose: Manipulation of the aggregation morphology of water

Fogging and icing are common phenomena in nature, but they bring huge harm in the human life and production, such as the deterioration of optical devices, the detriment of vehicles operating, the destruction of power transmission lines. In this work, we designed and constructed a cationic cellulose derivative with both weak hygroscopicity and high hydrophobicity to achieve a spontaneous management of the aggregation morphology of interfacial water, via precisely controlling the chemical structure of cellulose derivatives. As a result, the resultant cationic cellulose derivative can be used as a transparent and water-resistant coating, which exhibits universal anti-fogging, excellent anti-icing and anti-bioadhesive properties. Under low humidity, the coating can effectively absorb water to form a pseudo-film due to the ionized structure and retained hydroxyl groups. Under high humidity, the coating can promote water droplets to roll off due to the high hydrophobicity. The coating with weak hygroscopic core and high hydrophobic surface thus has a universal anti-fogging performance. In addition, this ionized coating with weak hygroscopicity can adjust the interfacial water performance, so it can reduce the freezing temperature of water to −30 ℃, and the ice adhesion stress to 10 kPa at −30 ℃. The freezing time of water exceeds 2 h at −25 ℃. Furthermore, the bacterial killing percentage on this coating is more than 97 % for Staphylococcus aureus. Due to high hydrophobicity and low surface energy, this coating has outstanding water-resistance, self-cleaning property, anti-chlorella adhesion and anti-protein adhesion. Therefore, such a multifunctional coating prepared by a simple structure design from natural cellulose has a great potential in display devices, traffics, solar products, wind generator, agricultural greenhouse, and other fields.

Bio-Inspired Hierarchical Micro/Nanostructured Surfaces for Superhydrophobic and Anti-Ice Applications.

We report a scalable and cost-effective fabrication approach for constructing bio-inspired micro/nanostructured surfaces. It involves silicon microstructure etching using a deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) method, nanowires deposition via glancing angle deposition (GLAD) process, and fluorocarbon thin film deposition. Compared with the smooth, microstructured, and nanostructured surfaces, the hierarchical micro/nanostructured surfaces obtained via this method showed the highest water contact angle of ∼161° and a low sliding angle of <10°. It also offered long ice delay times of 2313 s and 1658 s at −5°C and −10°C respectively, more than 10 times longer than smooth surfaces indicating excellent anti-icing properties and offering promising applications in low-temperature environments. These analyses further proved that the surface structures have a significant influence on surface wettability and anti-icing behavior. Hence, the GLAD process which is versatile and cost-effective offers the freedom of constructing nanostructures on top of microstructures to achieve the required objective in the fabrication of micro/nanostructured surfaces when compared to other fabrication techniques.

Superhydrophobic micro-nano structured PTFE/WO3 coating on low-temperature steel with outstanding anti-pollution, anti-icing, and anti-fouling performance

The fabrication of superhydrophobic coatings on the low-temperature steels has rarely been explored to this day. Herein, we designed and fabricated a superhydrophobic micro-nano structured composite coating on the E40 low-temperature steel, which was composed of an underlying WO3 coating derived from the pulsed electrodeposition process and a top polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer obtained from the magnetron sputtering. The synergistic effect of the hierarchical micro-/nanostructures of the WO3 coating and the low surface free energy of the fluorine-containing PTFE layer makes the PTFE/WO3 coating superhydrophobic, which demonstrated a water contact angle of 159° and a water roll-off angle of ≤1°. The PTFE/WO3 coating exhibited outstanding anti-pollution properties towards both the solid pollutant such as carbon black particles and the liquid pollutant such as black ink. Importantly, the PTFE/WO3 coating demonstrated excellent anti-icing properties with low icing temperature and small ice-adhesion strength, while simultaneously possessing outstanding anti-fouling performance. The present work provides a new strategy for fabricating coatings with multifunctionality on metallic materials which can work under low-temperature and biofouling conditions.

Facile Synthesis of Fluorinated Polysilazanes and Their Durable Icephobicity on Rough Al Surfaces.

Superhydrophobic Al surfaces with excellent durability and anti-icing properties were fabricated by coating dual-scale rough Al substrates with fluorinated polysilazane (FPSZ). Flat Al plates were etched using an acidic solution, followed by immersion in boiling water to generate hierarchical micro-nano structures on their surfaces. The FPSZ coatings were synthesized by grafting 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane (FAS-17), a fluoroalkyl silane), onto methylpolysilazane, an organopolysilazane (OPSZ) backbone. The high water contact angle (175°) and low sliding angle (1.6°) of the FPSZ-coated sample with an FAS-17 content of 17.3 wt% promoted the efficient removal of a frozen ice column with a low ice adhesion strength of 78 kPa at −20.0 °C (70% relative humidity), which was 4.3 times smaller than that of an OPSZ-coated surface. The FPSZ-coated Al surface suppressed ice nucleation, leading to a decrease in ice nucleation temperature from −19.5 to −21.9 °C and a delay in freezing time from 334 to 4914 s at −19.0 °C compared with the OPSZ-coated Al surface. Moreover, after 40 icing–melting cycles the freezing temperature of a water droplet on the FPSZ-coated Al surface remained unchanged, whereas that on the FAS-17-coated Al surface increased from −22.3 to −20.7 °C. Therefore, the durability of the polymeric FPSZ coating was superior to that of the FAS-17 monolayer coating.

UV laser-ablated Cu superwetting surface with improved anti-icing and antibacterial properties

Ultraviolet laser-ablated technique was used to improve the anti-icing and antibacterial properties of copper (Cu) with the objective of achieving efficient heat exchange performance. The laser scanning space interval exhibited a critical influence on the surface topography. SEM observation showed that nano-villi-like products appeared on the surface, which resulted in the formation of a micro/nano-hierarchical structure when the scanning interval was below 40 µm. When the scanning space interval was above 40 µm, the surface presented only a micron-level papilla/groove pattern without any nano-villi-like product. Combined analysis of XRD, TEM, and XPS results indicated that the nano-villi products were partially crystallized copper oxide particles with 5–10 nm size. It was speculated that nano-oxide was obtained by vapor deposition of Cu caused by laser ablation. Furthermore, after modification with FAS-17, the hydrophobicity of the nano-villi-like surface became significantly higher than that of the papilla/groove surface. The highest water contact angle reached 156.30 ± 0.53° and the water sliding angle was as low as 1.57 ± 0.99°. In the anti-icing test at − 10 °C, the delayed freezing time of this superhydrophobic surface reached 9923 s. This excellent anti-icing property can be attributed to the improvement in critical activation energy for ice nucleation and reduction in interfacial thermal conductivity caused by superhydrophobic surface. Finally, the inhibition zone test proved that laser ablation could significantly improve the antibacterial activity of Cu against E. coli and S. aureus.

A highly transparent and photothermal composite coating for effective anti-/de-icing of glass surfaces.

Anti-/de-icing of glass surfaces is of great importance in present daily life. The long-standing challenge in this field is largely due to the lack of stable multifunctional coatings that can be conveniently and economically constructed on the glass surface, and more importantly, are capable of retaining the original transparency of glass ranging from the visible to the near infrared spectrum. Herein, a direct spraying sol method on the glass surface to prepare a highly transparent and photothermal composite coating is reported. Such multifunctional coating of Cu7S4 nanoparticles/organo-silicone sols has displayed a good photothermal conversion property and hydrophobic property and therefore yields excellent anti-icing and self-melting ice properties. The condensation time of water droplets can be extended to 86 s even at −10 °C, which is 3.42 times delayed relative to ordinary blank glass. And the adhesion strength of ice is largely reduced to 72 KPa, which is as low as ∼1/3 that of ordinary glass. Meanwhile, the subcooling of adhering droplets is reduced to −12 °C under one solar illumination condition and exhibits a rapid de-icing capability. More impressively, the prepared functional coating glass shows an outstanding transmittance of more than 75% in the visible region, while it is over the minimum glass transmittance limit allowed by Safety Standards for Glass (GB9656-2016, China). In addition, the multifunctional photothermal glass coating exhibits good physical/chemical stability, which facilitates the long-term application of the coating in different environments.

In-Situ Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Surface on Copper with Excellent Anti-Icing and Anti-Corrosion Properties

In-Situ Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Surface on Copper with Excellent Anti-Icing and Anti-Corrosion Properties