Robust self-healing superhydrophobic coating for anti-icing

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Superhydrophobic surfaces often suffer from poor durability and degradation, limiting their use in anti-icing applications.
• Lotus leaf's self-recovery mechanism inspires the development of self-healing coatings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate a robust, self-healing superhydrophobic coating with enhanced long-term stability.
• To investigate the coating's self-healing mechanism and anti-icing performance.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a hybrid coating via spraying a mixture of silicone nanofilaments, liquid paraffin-loaded hollow silica microspheres, TMHFDS, and epoxy resin.
• Characterization of superhydrophobicity using water contact angle (CA) and sliding angle (SA) measurements.
• Assessment of self-healing capability through mechanical damage and chemical degradation tests, followed by thermal treatment.

Main Results:

• The coating exhibited excellent superhydrophobicity (CA > 161°, SA < 2°) and robustness (2H hardness).
• Rapid and repeatable self-healing of superhydrophobicity was achieved upon heating at 200 °C after mechanical or chemical damage.
• The coating maintained its liquid repellency after nine cycles of O2 plasma etching and self-healing (CA > 164°).
• Significant delay in ice formation (1105 s) was observed, demonstrating effective frost prevention.

Conclusions:

• The developed self-healing superhydrophobic coating offers a promising solution for durable anti-icing applications.
• The synergistic combination of robustness, superhydrophobicity, and self-healing properties enhances long-term performance.
• Potential applications include wind power generation and transportation where reliable anti-icing is critical.