TiN-Based Photothermal Fabric with a Superhydrophobic Surface for Synergistic Anti-/Deicing

Superhydrophobic surfaces can delay icing to a certain extent, but under severe conditions, such as extremely low temperatures and high humidity, ice buildup on their surfaces can still occur. Therefore, in this study, a titanium-based photothermal anti-/deicing fabric with a superhydrophobic surface was introduced, which was impregnated with hydrophobic SiO₂-TiO₂ Janus particles (H-SiO₂-TiO₂ JPs) and the silicone elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to endow it with superhydrophobic and photocatalytic properties, and then, titanium nitride nanoparticles (TiN NPs) were deposited on the surface of the cotton fabric to provide it with photothermal properties. A TiN-coated superhydrophobic cotton fabric (TiN-SCF) integrating self-cleaning, photothermal conversion, and photocatalysis was successfully prepared. The experimental data show that TiN-SCF has excellent superhydrophobicity (a contact angle of 159° when TiN is 2.2 wt % and H-SiO₂-TiO₂ JPs are 1.25 wt %). TiN-SCF can warm to 66.2 °C in 300 s under 1 kW/m² simulated solar irradiation. The synergy of the photothermal effect and superhydrophobicity is good for anti-/deicing. TiN-SCF also has significant photocatalytic activity (64% Rhodamine B solution degradation in 6 h). The research results offer ideas and support to solve ice and pollution problems and are expected to promote industry development.