All-Day Anti-Icing/Deicing Film Based on Combined Photo-Electro-Thermal Conversion

Abstract

Solar energy-facilitated icephobic films have emerged as clean and renewable materials, which can potentially solve energy loss problems during anti-icing/deicing applications. However, there is a significant challenge for all-day and continuous anti-icing/deicing applications under practical conditions with insufficient sunlight or no sunlight. In this work, a chemical oxidation polymerization method was used to prepare in situ self-wrinkling porous poly­(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)/polypyrrole (PPy) (POP-P) films based on a facile sugar template method. The porous-structured film enhanced light absorption by elongating the optical path for multiple reflections, maintaining an outstanding broad-band solar light absorption (295–2500 nm) and an exceptional photo-thermal effect. The light-to-heat performance showed a temperature enhancement from room temperature to 89.1 °C within 400 s under 1 sun illumination (q i = 1.0 kW m–2). In addition, this membrane also exhibited an electro-thermal effect at different voltages due to the Joule effect, and the saturation temperature could reach 75.4 °C at a voltage of 32 V. As an anti-icing/deicing material, this POP-P surface remained ice-free (−25 °C) throughout alternating of day and night, under conditions of a solar intensity of 0.8 kW m–2 and a voltage of 25 V.

Electro‐/Photo‐Thermal Promoted Anti‐Icing Materials: A New Strategy Combined with Passive Anti‐Icing and Active De‐Icing

“…Compared with electro‐thermal heat techniques, solar energy as the renewable source is free and sustainable from nature. Recently, researchers investigated sun light (or artifical light) to replace electric power, and developed photo‐thermal promoted AIM by combining passive AIM (i.e., SHSs, [ 106 ] lubricating surfaces, [ 107–110 ] and other icephobic surfaces [ 111,112 ] ) ( Figure ) with active photo‐thermal heating with the help of various absorbers (i.e., Fe 3 O 4 , [ 107,108,113–115 ] candle soot, [ 12,116 ] carbon nanotubes (CNTs), [ 89,90,112,117–126 ] carbon nanofibers, [ 111 ] CNTs/Fe 3 O 4 @poly(cyclotriphosphazene‐co‐4,4′‐sulfonyldiphenol) (PZS), [ 127 ] cermet, [ 32 ] I 2 , [ 128 ] SiC, [ 129 ] polypyrrole (PPy), [ 98 ] melanin, [ 130 ] CNTs/SiO 2 , [ 131 ] Fe/candle soot, [ 106 ] Fe/Cu, [ 132 ] titanium nitride (TiN), [ 133,134 ] Ti 2 O 3 , [ 135 ] Au/TiO 2 , [ 66,136 ] Au/SiO 2 , [ 137 ] reduced graphene oxide (rGO), [ 138 ] graphite, [ 139 ] SiO 2 /CuFeMnO 4 , [ 140 ] MXene, [ 141 ] and black engineered aluminum [ 142,143 ] ) (See Table 3 ). Generally, the absorption capacity of these absorbers differs from one to another, and the photo‐thermal effect usually occurs under different light wavelengths, such as solar radiation, [ 107 ] near infrared irradiation, [ 89,108,118,129 ] and infrared irradiation (See Table 3).…”

“…Compared with electro-thermal heat techniques, solar energy as the renewable source is free and sustainable from nature. Recently, researchers investigated sun light (or artifical light) to replace electric power, and developed photo-thermal promoted AIM by combining passive AIM (i.e., SHSs, [106] lubricating surfaces, [107][108][109][110] and other icephobic surfaces [111,112] ) (Figure 7) with active photo-thermal heating with the help of various absorbers (i.e., Fe 3 O 4 , [107,108,[113][114][115] candle soot, [12,116] carbon nanotubes (CNTs), [89,90,112,[117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126] carbon nanofibers, [111] CNTs/Fe 3 O 4 @ poly(cyclotriphosphazene-co-4,4′-sulfonyldiphenol) (PZS), [127] cermet, [32] I 2 , [128] SiC, [129] polypyrrole (PPy), [98] melanin, [130] CNTs/SiO 2 , [131] Fe/candle soot, [106] Fe/Cu, [132] titanium nitride (TiN), [133,134] Ti 2 O 3 , [135] Au/TiO 2 , [66,136] Au/SiO 2 ,…”

“…Finally, the photo-thermal heating cannot be utilized under all weather conditions, and need to combine with electro-thermal heating to realize practical all-weather anti-icing/de-icing applications. [89,90,98] In summary, the synergistic effect between passive antiicing strategies and active photo-thermal heating techniques facilitates to enhance the reliability and efficiency of antiicing/de-icing, and realizes a low-cost and effective anti-icing/ de-icing in the real outdoor application. In future, the stability and sustainability of photo-thermal absorbers within various passive AIM (i.e., SHSs and lubricating surfaces) need to be further investigated during icing/de-icing.…”

“…Generally, photo-thermal promoted AIM cannot be always effective without sunlight (i.e., cloudy day and night), which needs to combine with electro-thermal heating to realize real practical all-weather anti-icing/de-icing. [89,90,98] For example, Hao et al prepared self-wrinkling porous PDMS/PPy films, and these films can prevent icing (−25 °C) throughout alternating of day and night under conditions of a solar intensity of 0.8 kW m -2 and a voltage of 25 V (Figure 10a1,a2). [98] Liu et al designed an all-day anti-icing/de-icing coating by using both solar-thermal and electric-thermal effects, and this coating can stay warm to prevent icing even on a cloudy day or an extremely cold day (Figure 10b1-b4).…”

“…[89,90,98] For example, Hao et al prepared self-wrinkling porous PDMS/PPy films, and these films can prevent icing (−25 °C) throughout alternating of day and night under conditions of a solar intensity of 0.8 kW m -2 and a voltage of 25 V (Figure 10a1,a2). [98] Liu et al designed an all-day anti-icing/de-icing coating by using both solar-thermal and electric-thermal effects, and this coating can stay warm to prevent icing even on a cloudy day or an extremely cold day (Figure 10b1-b4). [90] Su et al also fabricated superhydrophobic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) based films with both electro-thermal and photothermal effects for anti-icing/de-icing.…”