Robust photothermal superhydrophobic coatings with dual-size micro/nano structure enhance anti-/de-icing and chemical resistance properties

We present a robustly durably corrosive superhydrophobic coating with photothermal effect (DCSCPE) for anti-icing/de-icing performance that can be designed by using as-synthetized Fe3O4 composite nanoparticles (NPs), along with protective coat (polydimethylsiloxane) and bonding basecoat (epoxy). In this design, the Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) are optimized in dual-size: 200 /20 nm and weight ratio:1/2 to achieve both micro/nanostructures and superior photothermal conversion properties (up to 14.4 °C/min) and light-to-heat conversion efficiency (62.38%), which is superior to other DCSCPE coatings. As a result, the DCSCPE1/2 takes on excellent superhydrophobicity under corrosion for 20 days by pH ∼ 1–14 and efficient de-icing performance, i.e., the ice-covering is melted in short time of 790 s under sunlight illumination and the DCSCPE1/2 surfaces show a high deicing rate (∼1.96 kg m−2h−1), which is benefited from synergy effect that is resulted from the excellent micro/nanostructures and the high-efficiently photothermal ability of as-synthetized Fe3O4 composite NPs. The stability on chemical and mechanical interface of micro/ nanostructures can be further demonstrated to greatly favor the robust anti-icing/de-icing performance for a long term. This studying is considerably significant to design the novel protective materials on anti-icing, anti-corrosion that can be extended into practical applications.