Self-crosslinking coatings of fluorinated polysiloxanes with enhanced icephobicity

Fluorinated polysiloxanes with different grafting densities of fluorinated groups were synthesized via hydrosilylation reaction between polymethylhydrosiloxane and tridecafluorooctyl methacrylate (13FMA). By further introduction of vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES), the produced polymers underwent self-crosslinking to generate icephobic coatings. Characterizations of surface chemical composition and morphology of the fluorinated polysiloxanes coatings suggested that the fluorine content and the surface roughness of the coating surface increased with the amount of 13FMA. When the fluorinated polysiloxanes grafted a suitable amount of 13FMA and VTES, supercooled water droplets could easily slip away from the tilted coating surface at − 15 °C, ascribing to its high receding contact angle, and the ice shear strength could reduce to 83 ± 2 kPa. Results of this study further demonstrated the importance of the synergistic effect of silicon and fluorine for contribution to the enhanced icephobicity, and the self-crosslinking fluorinated polysiloxane coatings could find more feasible applications for anti-icing.