Solar-assisted icephobicity down to −60°C with superhydrophobic selective surfaces

Wei Ma, Yang Li, Christopher Y.H. Chao, Chi Yan Tso, Baoling Huang, Weihong Li, Shuhuai Yao

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Engineering icephobic surfaces has been a long-standing effort to address the challenges of ice prevention and removal in our daily life and industrial applications. Superhydrophobic surfaces and photothermal effect have shown their distinct merits in anti-icing and deicing. It is highly desirable to exploit their mutual benefits to realize passive, durable, and sustainable icephobicity even at extremely low temperatures. We report on a superhydrophobic selective surface constructed with a hierarchical architecture to enable stable superhydrophobicity and high-efficiency solar-thermal conversion. The surface spectral selectivity is deliberately designed to maximize solar harvesting while minimizing the thermal re-radiation loss. The boosted solar-thermal conversion empowers remarkable anti-icing of a sessile droplet at a record-low temperature of −60°C under 1-sun illumination. The synergy of solar-thermal conversion and superhydrophobicity endows the surface with superior and durable icephobicity. Moreover, the presented icephobic surface shows great potential and broad impacts, owing to its all-solution-based scalable fabrication method.

Original languageEnglish
Article number100384
JournalCell Reports Physical Science
Volume2
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Mar 2021

Keywords

  • anti-icing
  • deicing
  • icephobic
  • scalable
  • selective absorber
  • solar-thermal
  • solution process
  • superhydrophobic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Chemistry(all)
  • Energy(all)
  • Engineering(all)

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