Zwitterionic Self-Constraining Lubricant Coating for Prevention of Dust-Induced Icing

Anti-icing coatings have gained significant attention to prevent ice accretion on infrastructure surfaces, particularly in aviation, power, and transportation sectors, owing to their energy-saving and satisfactory anti-icing performance. However, dust accumulation on anti-icing coating surfaces significantly weakens their protective performance. Dust particulates adsorbed on the coating surfaces via electrostatic interaction is challenging to remove by wind power or rain washing alone. Herein, the dust-induced icing process is clarified, and the process is effectively suppressed by a self-constraining lubricant (SCL) coating based on ionic liquids (ILs) and zwitterionic copolymers. ILs (EMIES), embedded into the PDMS matrix, enhance the coating's conductivity (≈2.04 S/m) to dissipate surface static electricity and prevent the electrostatic adsorption of charged dust particles. The zwitterionic copolymer in SCL coating is designed to constrain ILs via electrostatic interaction and provide hydrophilic segments to enhance anti-icing as well as deicing properties (heterogeneous ice nucleation temperature of -27.9°C, icing delay time of 1458 s, and ice adhesion strength of 8.1 kPa). This SCL coating presents dust-repellent performance and retains excellent anti-icing properties even when suffering from dust deposition. Meanwhile, it still maintained low ice adhesion strength after 30 icing-deicing cycles. This work establishes a new dust-repellent and anti-icing strategy for outdoor infrastructure.