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

Mechanism and design strategy of ice-phobic surface: A comprehensive review

Ice accumulation on the surface can significantly impact the normal operation of industrial facilities and even lead to damage, resulting in economic losses. Modifying the physical structure and chemical state of the surface can effectively mitigate ice nucleation, growth, and adhesion processes. Building upon previous definitions of ice-phobic surfaces, this review provides a refined definition of ice-phobicity and reviews recent advancements in ice-phobic surfaces research. Firstly, ice-phobic mechanisms are summarized, which including principles of ice formation, theory of solid-liquid wettability of interface, and theory of solid-solid interface mechanics. Subsequently, strategies for developing near-term ice-phobic surfaces are discussed encompassing superhydrophobic surfaces, interfacial water induced surfaces, low adhesion surfaces, as well as thermal de-icing surfaces. Furthermore, a comparison is made regarding test detail definitions and commonly used test methods in researching ice-phobic surfaces to promote methodological uniformity. Lastly, the latest research findings on four distinct ice-phobic surfaces are highlighted, while also prospecting the challenges to be considered in future ice-phobic surface design.

Photothermal and Hydrophobic Surfaces with Nano-Micro Structure: Fabrication and Their Anti-Icing Properties

The formation of ice due to global climate change poses challenges across multiple industries. Traditional anti-icing technologies often suffer from low efficiency, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution. Photothermal and hydrophobic surfaces with nano-micro structures (PHS-NMSs) offer innovative solutions to these challenges due to their exceptional optical absorption, heat conversion capabilities, and unique surface water hydrophobic characteristics. This paper reviews the research progress of PHS-NMSs in their anti-icing applications. It introduces the mechanisms of ice prevention, fabrication methods, and pathways for performance optimization of PHS-NMSs. The anti-icing performance of PHS-NMSs in different application scenarios is also discussed. Additionally, the paper provides insights into the challenges and future development directions in this field.

Simulation-Guided Preparation of Copper Chalcogenide Nanoparticle-Based Transparent Photothermal Coating with Enhanced Deicing Performance

In this investigation, transparent photothermal coatings utilizing plasmonic copper chalcogenide (Cu2-xS) nanoparticles were designed and fabricated for the deicing of glass surfaces. Cu2-xS nanoparticles, chosen for their high near-infrared (NIR) absorption and efficient photothermal conversion, were analyzed via finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations to optimize nanoparticle morphology, thus avoiding costly trial-and-error synthesis. FDTD simulations determined that Cu2-xS nanorods (Cu-NRs) with an optimal aspect ratio of 2.2 had superior NIR absorption. Guided by FDTD simulations, the composite coating composed of Cu-NRs in clear acrylic resin paint was brush-coated to glass, achieving 62.4% visual transmittance and over 95% NIR absorbance. Photothermal conversion tests exhibited a significant temperature increase, with the coating reaching 65 °C under NIR irradiation within 6 min. The dynamic deicing process of ice beads on the coating at -20 °C completed within 220s, in contrast to the frozen state on glass coated with clear acrylic resin paint. Furthermore, heat transfer simulations in COMSOL illustrated melting initiation at the ice-coating interface and subsequent progression through the ice layer. This simulation-driven synthesis method and photothermal testing offer a design framework for the fabrication of photothermal deicing coatings with applications for automobiles, buildings, and aircraft in cold environments.

Electrothermal-Assisted Photothermal Lubrication Surfaces for Continuous Anti-Icing/Deicing in Multiple Low-Temperature Environments

Solving the problem of ice accumulation on solid surfaces is of great significance to the economic development of the country and the safety of people's lives. In this work, a coating with multifunctional photothermal/electrothermal solid-state lubrication (PEL) for anti-icing/deicing was prepared in layers based on the intrinsic properties of silicone oil and paraffin wax in combination with conductive graphite and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Silicone oils and paraffins are used as lubricating media giving the coating excellent lubricity, which results in a water sliding angle (SA) of only 12° on the PEL surface. Meanwhile, PEL shows favorable static and dynamic ice resistance at low temperatures; at -10 °C, the freezing time of water droplets on the PEL surface is extended by at least 4 times compared to the bare substrate. Furthermore, PEL also offers highly efficient photothermal and electrothermal deicing performance, which can effectively remove the accumulated ice at a light intensity of 0.6 kW/m2 or an EPD of 0.1 W/cm2. Meanwhile, the synergistic deicing mechanism of photothermal and electrothermal was verified at -20 °C. Interestingly, the coating shows heat-assisted healing ability due to the phase change characteristic of paraffin wax, which allows the coating to regain lubricating properties after mechanical abrasion. Therefore, this work provides a reliable way for the design of stable all-weather anti-icing/deicing strategies at low temperatures.

Robust Transparent Photothermal Omniphobic Coating for Efficient Anti/Deicing and Antifogging

Icing and fogging on optical material surfaces bring various problems in daily life. Recently, some photothermal coatings have been reported to prevent the condensation or freeze of water droplets by increasing the surface temperature. However, it is a great challenge to apply them in practical conditions due to their opaqueness and poor mechanical wear-resistant property. In this work, we constructed a robust transparent photothermal omniphobic coating with a simple dip-coating technique. In the coating system, photothermal polypyrrole nanoparticles are introduced into inorganic silica networks, and then polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) brushes were grafted on the inorganic silica layer to endow the surface with omniphobicity and stain resistance. The transparency and photothermal capacity of the coating can be regulated by the deposition times of the coating. In addition, the coating has an excellent anti/deicing property and reduces ice adhesion obviously due to the existence of "liquid-like" PDMS brushes. More importantly, the coating presents outstanding mechanical wear-resistant and self-lubricating properties that can endure several thousand friction cycles without performance loss. The mechanically robust photothermal omniphobic coating gives a feasible approach to anti-icing and antifogging of transparent substrates under sunlight irradiation.

A Highly Transparent Photo-Electro-Thermal Film with Broadband Selectivity for All-Day Anti-/De-Icing

A photo- and electro-thermal film can convert sunlight and electricity into heat to solve icing problems. Combination of them provides an efficient strategy for all-day anti-/de-icing. However, only opaque surfaces have been reported, due to the mutual exclusiveness between photon absorption and transmission. Herein, a highly transparent and scalable solution-processed photo-electro-thermal film is reported, which exhibits an ultra-broadband selective spectrum to separate the visible light from sunlight and a countertrend suppress of emission in longer wavelength. It absorbs ≈ 85% of invisible sunlight (ultraviolet and near-infrared) for light-heat conversion, meanwhile maintains luminous transmittance > 70%. The reflection of mid-infrared leads to low emissivity (0.41), which further preserves heat on the surface for anti-/de-icing purpose. This ultra-broadband selectivity enables temperature elevation > 40 °C under 1-sun illumination and the mutual support between photo-thermal and electro-thermal effects contributes to > 50% saving of electrical consumption under weak solar exposure (0.4-sun) for maintaining unfrozen surfaces at -35 °C environment. The reverberation from photo-electro-thermal and super-hydrophobic effects illustrates a lubricating removal of grown ice in short time (< 120 s). The self-cleaning ability and the durability under mechanical, electrical, optical, and thermal stresses render the film stable for long-term usage in all-day anti-/de-icing applications.

Self-Healing, Robust, Liquid-Repellent Coatings Exploiting the Donor-Acceptor Self-Assembly

Liquid-repellent coatings with rapid self-healing and strong substrate adhesion have tremendous potential for industrial applications, but their formulation is challenging. We exploit synergistic chemistry between donor-acceptor self-assembly units of polyurethane and hydrophobic metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles to overcome this challenge. The nanocomposite features a nanohierarchical morphology with excellent liquid repellence. Using polyurethane as a base polymer, the incorporated donor-acceptor self-assembly enables high strength, excellent self-healing property, and strong adhesion strength on multiple substrates. The interaction mechanism of donor-acceptor self-assembly was revealed via density functional theory and infrared spectroscopy. The superhydrophobicity of polyurethane was achieved by introducing alkyl-functionalized MOF nanoparticles and post-application silanization. The combination of the self-healing polymer and nanohierarchical MOF nanoparticles results in self-cleaning capability, resistance to tape peel and high-speed liquid jet impacts, recoverable liquid repellence over a self-healed notch, and low ice adhesion up to 50 icing/deicing cycles. By exploiting the porosity of MOF nanoparticles in our nanocomposites, fluorine-free, slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces with stable, low ice adhesion strengths were also achieved by infusing silicone oil into the coatings.

Preparation of SiO2 resin coating with superhydrophobic wettability and anti-icing behavior analysis

Among different types of anti-icing coatings, superhydrophobic surfaces have attracted extensive attention due to their excellent water repellency and low thermal conductivity. We report facile spraying time tuning to optimize the superhydrophobic (SHP) surface coating fabrication by a one-step spraying method of mixing SiO2 nanoparticles with epoxy resin (EP), polyamide resin (PAI), and HFTMS. The wettability performance was optimized by adjusting spraying time from 0 s to 25 s to control surface morphology by adjusting surface morphology and line roughness. With spraying time of 20 s, SiO2 molecular clusters on the superhydrophobic surface showed a maximum water contact angle (WCA) of 160.4° ± 1.3° and a sliding angle (SA) of 4.1° ± 1.0°. What's more, the effect of the coatings' icing behavior were studied by icing heat conduction; SHP-20 delayed the icing time for 410 s at -15 °C, and the icing performance of SHP-20 also declined with the decrease of temperature to -9 °C, -12 °C, -15 °C, and -18 °C. The WCA of SHP-20 can remain above 140.9° ± 1.8° after 40 abrasive 1000# sandpaper wear cycles. The results also provide a basis for the preparation of SHP and anti-icing characteristics.