The anti-icing and mechanical properties of a superhydrophobic coating on asphalt pavement

Ice formation on asphalt pavement may lead to potential hazards for driving safety. To reduce the safety risk, this paper aims at preparing a superhydrophobic coating (SC) on asphalt pavement. Room-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV) is the main component of the SC. The micro-/nano- SiO2 particles modified by a silane coupling agent (KH550) were sprayed on the RTV surfaces to prepare the SC. The contact angle test and surface morphology observation results indicate that the contact angle of water droplets increases effectively due to the rough micron-/nano- structures on the SC. Additionally, icing observation reveals that SC delayed icing time of water droplets 1.5 times longer than the asphalt mixture specimen without SC. Adhesion force between ice and SC decreases by 84% compared with that between the ice and asphalt mixture at −5 °C. The tensile strength of the RTV sheet containing 30 parts per hundred parts (phr) of fumed silica is 13 times than that of the RTV sheet without fumed silica. Adhesion force between SC and asphalt mixture achieve the maximum value of 875 kN when SC contains 5 phr of KH550. To sum up, it can be concluded that the SC has superior anti-icing and mechanical properties on asphalt pavement.