Towards Optimizing Power-Supplying Strategy of Versatile Composites for Energy-Efficient and Robust Anti-Icing/De-Icing

Fiber-reinforced polymer-based composites (FRPC) have been widely applied in engineering structural components but suffer from ice accretion issues. Assembling a straightforward electrothermal anti-icing/de-icing system while collaborating with passive superhydrophobicity and photothermal effect to alleviate energy shortages is considered the most practical strategy. However, the well-known instability of the superhydrophobicity causes wavering anti-icing/de-icing performance. And researchers know little about how to evaluate the effectiveness of these passive technologies and optimized the active power supply strategy. Herein, anti-icing/de-icing FRPC was fabricated by integral molding with micro/nano-textured film with robust superhydrophobicity and electro/photo-thermal properties. Based on the tailorable surface temperature, a quantitative method has been developed to evaluate the contribution of passive technology. Consequently, the superhydrophobic and photothermal effects have been proved to reduce electric energy consumption by 73%, which is furthermore reduced to 96% by optimizing the anti-icing/de-icing power-supplying strategy. Additionally, the textures and porosity of the spraying substrate were highlighted to enhance the superhydrophobic durability by constructing “soil-roots” structures, thereby exhibiting tolerance to icing/melting cycles (100 cycles), water impact (3 m/s for 11 min), and acid/alkali corrosion (40/50 h). The fabricated robust and versatile FRPC is promising in controllable anti-icing/de-icing of engineering components like unmanned aerial vehicles and wind turbine blades.