Controllable fabrication of superhydrophobic alloys surface on 304 stainless steel substrate for anti-icing performance

In this paper, 304 stainless steel-based ZnO (304SS-based ZnO) seed layer was prepared by using sol-gel method or electrochemical deposition. Superhydrophobic nano-ZnO (CSS–ZnO) surface were prepared on its surface by hydrothermal method. The results show that different structural morphologies of 304SS-based ZnO surface were prepared by varying different seed layer preparation methods. In the static icing test, compared with hydrophilic nano-ZnO (SS–ZnO) surface, hydrophobic nano-ZnO (QS-ZnO) surface and 304SS surface at −5 °C, −10 °C and −15 °C. The icing time of CSS-ZnO surface was prolonged by about 2.7 h at −5 °C, delayed by about 40 min at −10 °C and delayed by about 9 min at −15 °C. The CSS-ZnO surface is the most effective surface in static anti-icing. It is because that there has a residual air layer at the solid-liquid interface and the coating can still effectively retard ice formation in a partially wetted state. In the dynamic icing test, compared with QS-ZnO surface, SS-ZnO surface and 304SS surface at −16 °C, SS-ZnO surface and QS-ZnO surface have no anti-icing effect, and CSS-ZnO surface has a significant anti-icing effect. The mechanism for inhibiting condensation of water droplets by superhydrophobic surfaces was illustrated, which can be identified that the contact angle of the ice embryo will increase with the increase of the water contact angle. This work provides a practical application for promoting anti-icing ability of 304SS surfaces in industry.