Investigation on characteristics of thin films made from two kinds of silane-couplers to control adhesion force of ice to solid surfaces

• Growth characteristics of the films made from the silane-couplers were clarified.
• The film thickness for APTE was always larger than that for TDOS.
• Over 2.5 mass% the APTE film growth strongly depended on increase in immersion time.
• The increase ratio of TDOS film thickness for varying concentrations was remarkable.
• Durabilities of film's surface modification and mechanical strength were sufficient.

There has been considerable research on reducing the force of ice adhesion to cooling solid surfaces. One of the present authors has also studied various methods of reducing or increasing the ice adhesion force. One promising method involves the use of a thin silane-coupler film coated on the solid surface. Using this method, the ice adhesion force can be controlled by altering the organic functional groups of the silane-couplers. However, the characteristics of such thin films usually depend on their formation conditions. Therefore, in this work, two kinds of silane-couplers were investigated. The thin film coating thickness and ice adhesion force to the coated test plate were measured for two kinds of test plate materials, test plate immersion times in the silane-coupler mixtures, and silane-coupler concentrations. Moreover, a durability of surface modification effect due to the thin film and a mechanical durability of the thin films were also investigated.