Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4676086 Cold Regions Science and Technology 2011 5 Pages PDF
Abstract

In this work, ice repellency of rough hydrophobic coatings based on different materials and with different surface topographies is evaluated. The coatings were prepared either from a fluoropolymer incorporated with nanoparticles or by etching aluminum alloy substrate followed by further hydrophobization of the rough surface via an organosilane monolayer adsorbed from solution. This allowed comparing the ice-releasing performance of rough surfaces with high water contact angles (∼ 150–153°) and different dynamic hydrophobicities and mechanical properties. Artificially created glaze ice, similar to naturally occurring glaze, was accreted on the surfaces by spraying supercooled water microdroplets in a wind tunnel at subzero temperature. The ice adhesion strength was evaluated by spinning the samples in a centrifuge at constantly increasing speeds until ice detachment occurred. The results showed that, after several icing–deicing cycles, the more robust surfaces prepared by etching the aluminum substrate maintained their ice-releasing properties better, compared to their counterparts based on nanoparticle-incorporated fluoropolymer. The effect of the dynamic hydrophobicity of the coatings was also examined, clearly demonstrating that the surface with low dynamic hydrophobicity is not ice-repellent, although it demonstrates large values of water contact angle.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Earth and Planetary Sciences (General)
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