Study on the surface characteristics and anti-icing properties of PDMS micro- and nanostructres imitating qinling arrow bamboo leaf surface

The formation of ice on solid surfaces can occasionally lead to severe consequences. Bamboo leaves offer an excellent biomimetic blueprint for anti-icing micro- and nanostructured surfaces. This work utilizes polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to emulate the intricate surface architecture of bamboo leaves. The bamboo leaf specimen exhibited a contact angle of 156°, whereas the PDMS replica demonstrated 151°. Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) analysis revealed that the micro- and nanostructures on the replica surface were predominantly arranged in a needle-like configuration, with an average surface roughness of 46.4 nm. The freezing temperature of the PDMS surface was 2.8°C lower than that of an untreated planar surface. The textured surfaces showed an approximately 21% increase in the delayed freezing time compared to the non-textured counterpart. This research presents a novel approach to anti-icing surface design.