Icephobicity of polydimethylsiloxane-b-poly(fluorinated acrylate)

• PDMS-b-PFA block copolymers with different PDMS contents were synthesized.
• Surface microstructure can be adjusted by changing the content of PDMS.
• The ratio of fluorine/silicon increased with the decrease of the PDMS content.
• Ice adhesion and shear strength were decreased by the synergistic effect of silicon and fluorine.

A facile process to fabricate icephobic surfaces was developed by spin-coating the polydimethylsiloxane-b-poly(fluorinated acrylate) (PDMS-b-PFA) block copolymers on the substrate. The surface microstructure and chemical composition of the block copolymer films can be adjusted by changing the PDMS content. Icephobic properties of the copolymer surface were mainly ascribed to “flexible-hard” microphase separation and the ratio of fluorine to silicon. The appropriate microphase domain size and the fluorine/silicon ratio could weaken the interaction of ice and copolymer surface and delay icing of water droplets on the copolymer surface. The copolymers containing 15 wt.% PDMS showed the most outstanding icephobicity by depressing the interaction between ice and the copolymer surface.