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Fabrication of Superhydrophobic Metal Surfaces for Anti-Icing Applications
Published on: August 15, 2018
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Rational nanostructuring of surfaces for extraordinary icephobicity
Patric Eberle1, Manish K Tiwari, Tanmoy Maitra
1Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Mechanical and Process Engineering Department, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. dpoulikakos@ethz.ch m.tiwari@ucl.ac.uk.
Nanoscale
|March 27, 2014
Summary
Designing surfaces with ultrafine roughness prevents ice formation by confining interfacial water layers. This nanostructuring method achieves robust ice nucleation resistance down to -24°C, crucial for anti-icing applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Science
- Physics
Background:
- Ice formation on surfaces poses significant risks in various natural and technological contexts.
- Current methods for preventing ice formation and adhesion lack a robust, rational design strategy.
- Nanoscale surface features can influence ice nucleation, but their precise role and control remain challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a rational methodology for designing materials with exceptional resistance to ice formation and adhesion.
- To investigate the role of ultrafine roughness and interfacial layers in suppressing ice nucleation.
- To explore the combined effects of nanostructuring and microtexturing for enhanced anti-icing properties.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of surfaces with ultrafine roughness, specifically incorporating nanopits.
- Investigation of the interfacial quasiliquid layer and its confinement effects on ice nuclei formation.
- Characterization of ice nucleation temperature across a range of surface roughness scales (0.1 to 100 nm RMS).
- Integration of nanoroughness with pillar-microtextures to achieve liquid repellency and low ice adhesion.
Main Results:
- Ultrafine surface roughness effectively counteracts the ice nucleation-promoting effect of nanopits.
- An interfacial quasiliquid layer, when confined by nanostructuring, strongly suppresses stable ice nuclei formation.
- A robust and extremely low ice nucleation temperature of approximately -24 °C was achieved across a wide range of roughness sizes.
- Surfaces combining nanoroughness and pillar-microtextures demonstrated liquid repellency and significantly reduced ice adhesion.
- These composite surfaces delayed the freezing of supercooled water droplets by 25 hours at -21 °C.
Conclusions:
- Nanostructuring surfaces with ultrafine roughness provides a rational approach to achieving superior ice nucleation resistance.
- The confinement of interfacial quasiliquid layers is key to suppressing ice formation at the nanoscale.
- Combining nanoroughness with microscale features offers synergistic benefits for anti-icing applications, including liquid repellency and low ice adhesion.
- This methodology presents a promising pathway for developing advanced materials that mitigate the adverse effects of icing.
