Polyols-Infused Slippery Surfaces Based on Magnetic Fe₃O₄-Functionalized Polymer Hybrids for Enhanced Multifunctional Anti-Icing and Deicing Properties

Abstract

High durability, low cost, and superior anti-icing and active deicing multifunctional surface coatings, especially in the extreme environment, are highly desired to inhibit and/or eliminate the detriment of icing in many fields, such as automobile, aerospace, and power transmission. Herein, we first report a facile and versatile strategy to prepare novel slippery polyols-infused porous surfaces (SPIPS's) with the inexpensive polyols as the lubricant liquids. These SPIPS's are fabricated by a spray-coating approach based on amino-modified magnetic FeO nanoparticles (MNP@NH) and amphiphilic P(poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate- co-glycidyl methacrylate) copolymer covalent cross-linked hybrids, followed by infusion with various polyols. The as-prepared surface exhibits excellent antifrosting property, that is, it can greatly postpone frost formation as long as 2700 s at -18 °C. Meanwhile, differential scanning calorimetry results clearly demonstrate that SPIPS's show a remarkable freezing point depression capacity and the crystallization point of water can be decreased as low as -36.8 °C. The SPIPS also displays an extremely low ice adhesion strength (0.1 kPa) due to its unique surface characteristics. Moreover, outstanding active thermal deicing property is achieved for these slippery surfaces because of intrinsically photothermal effect of magnetic FeO nanoparticle. Hence, these results indicate that this kind of multifunctional bioinspired slippery surface, with superb stability, good cost effectiveness, and easy fabrication, can be used as a promising candidate for anti-icing and deicing applications.

Current Ice Adhesion Testing Methods and the Need for a Standard: A Concise Review

“…While direct mechanical and centrifuge testing represent the majority of the research found in the current literature [11][12][13][14][15][20][21][22][23][24], additional miscellaneous tests have emerged that involve various apparatuses and methodologies, and these will be discussed separately in this review. Mechanical testing can be further classified according to the four common direct methods, including horizontal shear test [10,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], vertical shear test [11,36], and tensile test [37][38][39], which are schematically depicted in Figure 1. Unlike centrifuge testing, mechanical testing can be conducted on stationary equipment, such as a tensile testing machine or a cold plate with a push rod [27,28,36].…”

“…Unlike centrifuge testing, mechanical testing can be conducted on stationary equipment, such as a tensile testing machine or a cold plate with a push rod [27,28,36]. As a result, the ice that dislodges using a mechanical testing approach is typically preserved and can be quickly assessed for surface irregularities [30,31,35]. By contrast, centrifuge testing typically results in the destruction of the ice sample, as it impacts the wall of the centrifuge testing chamber and is consequently destroyed [22][23][24].…”

Photothermal Devices for Sustainable Uses Beyond Desalination

“…[ 144 ] On the other hand, Zhang et al infiltrated polyols, instead of water‐immiscible lubricants, within the Fe 3 O 4 ‐embedded polymer substrates to fabricate photothermal SLIPS coating. [ 145 ] These hydrophilic lubricants exhibited a much lower ice adhesion strength compared with silicone oils.…”

Solar anti-icing surface with enhanced condensate self-removing at extreme environmental conditions

“…friendly and energy efficient. Notably, a number of photothermal conversion materials including carbon materials, conjugated polymers, two-dimensional nanostructural materials, and metallic particles have also been applied as SASs (28,(31)(32)(33)(34). Although remarkable improvements have been made, some challenges have yet to be tackled.…”