Plasmon-mediated photothermal and superhydrophobic TiN-PTFE film for anti-icing/deicing applications

Ice formation and accretion cause serious economic and safety issues. In this work we design and fabricate a photothermal and superhydrophobic film based on titanium nitride and polytetrafluoroethylene (TiN-PTFE) hybrid nanostructure for anti-icing/deicing applications. The photothermal effect is achieved by depositing TiN nanorods (NRs) of different length to optimize the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) performance. Plasmonics TiN NRs can efficiently adsorb light and convert the optical energy into heat. We also maximize the film superhydrophobicity by depositing low surface energy PTFE NRs with high porosity. Through the integration of photothermal conversion and superhydrophobicity, the as-fabricated TiN-PTFE film possesses both active anti-icing property and passive deicing functionality, i.e., the freezing time of water on the TiN-PTFE coated substrate delays by ∼400% times compared with that on untreated steel surface, and the ice layer formed on the TiN-PTFE film melts completely within several seconds under laser irradiation. In addition, the hybrid film exhibits excellent stability in various extreme conditions, such as high-temperature stability up to 200 °C, chemical stability in a large range of pH solutions, corrosion resistance against NaCl solution, as well as mechanical durability upon scratching. This robust nanocomposite film with multiple outstanding properties shows great application prospects in industrial fields, and will inspire the development of plasmonic materials and superhydrophobic surfaces.