Carbon-Based Photothermal Superhydrophobic Materials with Hierarchical Structure Enhances the Anti-Icing and Photothermal Deicing Properties

Ice formation on the surface of outdoor equipment brings significant inconvenience to human life and production. Superhydrophobic materials with the micro-nanostructure are considered to be effective anti-icing materials. However, repeated icing and deicing processes will destroy the structure and lose anti-icing properties. Herein, low-cost, durable, high-efficiency photothermal superhydrophobic materials were prepared by electrochemical deposition and silanization treatment methods. Combined with the black-body property of carbon materials and the micro-nano hierarchical structure, the as-prepared material has excellent photothermal and superhydrophobic properties. The surface temperature can rise to 90 °C, and the freezing droplets can melt in 100 s under 100 mW/cm² of sunlight illumination. The superhydrophobic property endows the material with excellent anti-icing performance, and the icing delay time is as long as 3600 s. The melted water droplet can quickly roll off due to the low adhesion of the superhydrophobic surface, which avoids the refreezing of the melted droplet and enhances the photothermal conversion performance. We innovatively use the elemental tracer method to understand the melted water droplet roll off mechanism on inclined surfaces. In addition, the heat transfer model of anti-icing and photothermal deicing processes are established to confirm that the heat required for melting ice during the deicing process is mainly generated by photothermal materials. Finally, the feasibility of practical application of the material was verified by the anti-icing/deicing experiment of a wind turbine blade and ice/frost layer melting experiment. It concludes that the superior anti-icing and deicing properties are realized using the high photothermal conversion and excellent superhydrophobic properties of the prepared photothermal superhydrophobic materials. This study provides a perspective for constructing micro-nano hierarchical structures on the surface and combining them with the abundant solar energy in nature to develop photothermal anti-icing materials for practical application.