Phase change surfaces with porous metallic structures for long-term anti/de-icing application

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Engineering
• Tribology

Background:

• Icing hazards pose significant safety and economic risks across industries.
• Icephobic surfaces offer a promising solution by reducing ice adhesion but suffer from liquid depletion.
• Addressing liquid depletion is crucial for the practical application of icephobic technologies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel phase changeable icephobic surface to overcome the liquid depletion issue.
• To investigate the icephobic mechanisms and long-term durability of the proposed surface.
• To enhance the practical applicability of icephobic surfaces in icing environments.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of phase change materials (PCM)-impregnation porous metallic structures (PIPMSs).
• Evaluation of surface icephobicity, including ice adhesion strength and nucleation delay.
• Analysis of interfacial interactions and PCM depletion over multiple icing/de-icing cycles.
• Development of phase change models to understand icephobic mechanisms.

Main Results:

• The developed PIPMSs demonstrated excellent icephobicity with low ice adhesion strength (< 5 kPa).
• The surfaces significantly delayed ice nucleation and exhibited long-term humidity tolerance.
• PCM depletion was minimal (< 10%) after 50 icing/de-icing cycles, confirming durability.
• Interfacial analysis revealed the role of unfrozen quasi-liquid and solid lubricant layers.

Conclusions:

• PIPMSs provide an effective and durable icephobic platform by utilizing phase-change interfacial interactions.
• The strategy successfully addresses the liquid depletion problem in icephobic surfaces.
• This approach offers a viable solution for industrial ice mitigation challenges.