Photothermal superhydrophobic composite coatings based on n-tetradecane@CaCO3/TiN microcapsules for anti-/deicing

Ice accumulation on equipment and building surfaces is a scientific and modern engineering problem to be solved urgently. Compared to the energy-intensive and expensive active anti-/deicing approaches, passive energy-free technology based on advanced materials and surface engineering has received more attention. Herein, we successfully encapsulated n-tetradecane in calcium carbonate shell by in situ precipitation method, and the microcapsules reveal good energy-storage capability (99.9 %), latent heat (108.1 J g−1), and long-term durability. Combining the microcapsule with low-cost titanium nitride and low-surface-energy PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) materials, the multifunctional superhydrophobic composite coating has been successfully prepared. The composite coating surface possesses strong absorption in UV–vis-NIR bands with high photothermal conversion and storage capability. The results indicate that the composite coating successfully prolongs the icing time compared to traditional photothermal superhydrophobic surfaces, and accelerates the melting of ice droplets under light illumination, which demonstrates great potential in both anti-icing and deicing applications.