Step by step progress to achieve an icephobic silicone‐epoxy hybrid coating: Tailoring matrix composition and additives

Abstract This study details the fabrication of an icephobic coating for steel produced using a silicone–epoxy hybrid resin; the coating has good mechanical properties and weathering resistance for outdoor applications. Silicone–epoxy hybrid resins and amino‐functional silane‐curing agents were selected for investigation and applied to steel samples. Wettability, ice adhesion strength, and the mechanical and weathering resistance properties of the developed coatings were assessed using a drop‐shape analyzer, Fourier transform infrared, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, as well as push‐off, tensile, and QUV tests. The possible correlation between ice adhesion strength and Young modulus was also investigated. The best‐performing matrix in terms of mechanical properties and weathering resistance had its surface energy characteristics altered—via two fluorinated silicone additives at various concentrations—to lower ice adhesion strength. For the steel substrates, the optimized additive‐altered surface showed a lower ice adhesion strength (decreasing from 362 to 94 kPa) with an adhesion reduction factor of 10.6. The fabricated coatings can serve as a protective layer for marine harbor infrastructures.