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

Abstract Ice accretion on exposed surfaces is unavoidable as time elapses and temperature lowers sufficiently in nature, causing detrimental impacts on the normal performance of devices and facilities. To mitigate icing problems, both active de‐icing and passive anti‐icing materials (AIM) have been utilized. Traditional active anti‐icing methods suffer from energy consumption, low efficiency and high cost, while passive AIM meet the challenges of improving mechanical durability and maintaining low ice adhesion strength during icing/de‐icing cycles. Recently, new AIM are rationally designed by the combination of passive anti‐icing and active de‐icing, exhibiting efficient, reliable and energy‐saving properties. The conceptual idea is that passive AIM only need to reach a certain value of ice adhesion strength (i.e., τ ice <100 kPa) instead of achieving lowest ice adhesion strength, and simultaneously combine with active de‐icing techniques (i.e., electro‐thermal and photo‐thermal stimulus) to realize ideal all‐weather anti‐icing/de‐icing. In this review paper, the authors provide a brief introduction to passive AIM, and mainly focus on recent advances in the electro‐/photo‐thermal promoted AIM in terms of anti‐icing/de‐icing mechanisms, challenges and perspectives. The new conceptual anti‐icing/de‐icing strategy will inspire the rational design of the state‐of‐the‐art AIM in future and provides practical solutions to mitigate outdoor anti‐icing/de‐icing problems in daily lives.