A low interfacial-toughness self-segregating thermoset for large-scale ice-shedding coating application

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Engineering
• Tribology

Background:

• Ice accretion poses significant challenges across various industries, necessitating effective ice-release coatings.
• Existing ice-shedding solutions often suffer from poor durability or complex industrial implementation.
• Stress-localized surfaces present a promising avenue for developing advanced ice-shedding materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of one-pot self-segregating siloxane-polyurethane (Si-PU) thermosets as durable, stress-localized surfaces.
• To evaluate the ice-shedding capabilities of these Si-PU coatings for large-scale icing applications.
• To explore the relationship between surface modulus heterogeneities and ice-interface crack initiation/propagation.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of one-pot self-segregating siloxane-polyurethane (Si-PU) thermoset coatings.
• Characterization of surface modulus heterogeneities in the Si-PU coatings.
• Analysis of crack initiation and propagation at the ice/coating interface under icing conditions.

Main Results:

• The self-segregating Si-PU coatings exhibit inherent surface modulus heterogeneities.
• These heterogeneities effectively initiate and propagate cracks at the ice/coating interface, facilitating ice release.
• The developed coatings demonstrate potential for durable and efficient ice-shedding.

Conclusions:

• One-pot self-segregating Si-PU thermosets offer a promising strategy for creating durable, stress-localized surfaces for ice-shedding.
• The surface modulus heterogeneities are key to the ice-release mechanism.
• This approach holds potential for scalable industrial applications in mitigating ice accretion.