Tailoring the Icephobic Performance of Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surfaces through the LbL Method

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in recent years in identifying an ice-removal procedure that is low cost and scalable and consumes a negligible amount of energy in order to prevent catastrophic failures in outdoor structures. One of the potential solutions to the structural problems caused by frigid and icy conditions is the use of slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) to effect passive ice removal using easy, economical, and energy-free means. This work takes advantage of the highly flexible layer-by-layer (LbL) technology to customize and design surfaces that have a high degree of roughness using negatively and positively charged polyelectrolytes and negatively charged silica nanoparticles (NPs). SEM (scanning electron microscopy) images represent the silica nanoparticles deposition on the surface of the thin film. The roughness of these thin films has been demonstrated by AFM (atomic force microscopy) investigation. The main characteristics of these surfaces are their high contact angle and low water contact angle hysteresis, which is achieved by the fluorinated lubricant that is infused in the pores of the films. The ice adhesion strength of the thin films was measured using a home-built normal mode tensile test in an environmental chamber, which confirmed the icephobicity of the surface as having an adhesion strength of less than 5 kPa, implying that this surface is an excellent candidate for passive removal of ice. The thin films were aged for up to 100 days, and the results showed that the thin film could reduce the ice adhesion strength by 65%, even after this period. The ice adhesion strength of the thin film after icing/deicing cycles showed that 80% of the icephobicity of the thin film had been preserved even after 50 cycles.

Ultralow Icing Adhesion of a Superhydrophobic Coating Based on the Synergistic Effect of Soft and Stiff Particles

“…Especially, the ice adhesion strength (6.5 kPa) of the PDMS/SiO 2 based surfaces was still far lower than 20.0 kPa at a low temperature (−25.0 °C) and high humidity (60%) for practical application. The ice adhesion strength of the PDMS/SiO 2 based surface was also compared with that of other surfaces reported in previous works as shown in Figure C. ,− It clearly showed the lowest ice adhesion strength so far among all the reported data. These results confirmed the formation of a superhydrophobic surface with ultralow ice adhesion.…”

Multifunction of Biomimetic Liquid Infused Systems Derived from SLIPS Theory: A Review

“…Layer-by-Layer assembly (LbL) is a representative down-top method that have been extensively used to construct surface coatings with nanoscale roughness. [40][41][42] It is a simple, lowcost, environmentally friendly, and scalable technology that is applicable to different systems, structures, and substrates. LbL benefits from the electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged molecules to assemble thin films, offering a molecular level control of the structure, thicknesses of the layers and the transparency of coatings.…”

Interdependence of Surface Roughness on Icephobic Performance: A Review

“…Polymeric surfaces and coatings, including the use of SLIPSs, have been a popular choice of researchers for passive ice protection, and many reports have indicated a lower ice adhesion on polymeric coatings and surfaces [ 136 , 137 ]. Lower-modulus polymer coatings pave the way for the easy release of developed ice (de-icing) due to a mismatch in strain under stress.…”