Recent advancements in photothermal anti-icing/deicing materials

The formation and accumulation of ice on various exposed surfaces are common and unavoidable phenomena, which have detrimental effects on industrial production and daily life. Conventional active deicing strategies are accused of low efficiency and high energy requirements and cause secondary pollution in the environment, and existing passive anti-icing materials, including superhydrophobic surfaces (SHSs) and slippery liquid–infused porous surfaces (SLIPSs) are still restricted by insufficient durability and unwarranted long-term effectiveness during multicycle icing/deicing. Recently, the use of photothermal anti-icing/deicing materials was proposed as a more pragmatic approach for outdoor anti-icing applications. This novel approach combines the advantages of passive anti-icing materials (i.e., self-propelled jumping of droplets before icing and delayed nucleation during crystallization) and active deicing materials (i.e., accelerating melting of ice by warming the surfaces) and can thus be used to achieve robust, efficient, and energy-saving anti-icing/deicing properties. This review provides an overview of the recent advancements in photothermal anti-icing/deicing materials. First of all, the icephobicity of solid surfaces and the basic mechanisms of anti-icing coatings are briefly presented. Secondly, various photothermal materials are introduced according to the conversion mechanisms. Thirdly, the recent advances in design and fabrication of photothermal anti-icing/deicing materials are reviewed in detail. The application of electro/photothermal anti-icing/deicing materials to address all-weather icing problems is also explored. Furthermore, the advantages and disadvantages of different methods for the fabrication of photothermal anti-icing/deicing materials are summarized. Finally, the existing challenges and future perspectives in the preparation and application of photothermal anti-icing/deicing materials are discussed. This review may direct the future development of materials for all-weather outdoor anti-icing applications.