A smart composite coating with self-temperature-monitoring performance and multi-modal ice/frost control ability

Facing the demand for the development of intelligent equipment and ice/frost control in various scenarios, a smart composite coating (SC) with electro/photothermal (E/P) and self-monitoring (SM) performance (SC-E/P-SM) was proposed. The smart coating was mainly prepared by commercial epoxy resin (E44), but a novel bio-sourced glue and deep eutectic solvent were introduced to improve the mechanical properties and conductivity. Due to the low resistivity (~0.25 Ω•m at room temperature), the prepared coating exhibits highly controllable electric heating performance, which can be used for deicing and defrosting. Meanwhile, SC-E/P-SM possesses self-temperature-monitoring performance due to the linear relative elongation under different temperatures. The self-monitoring performance can be combined with the electro-thermal property to build a smart device with auto-monitoring and auto-heating functions. In addition, due to the high absorptance (>94%) in a wide wavelength range, SC-E/P-SM exhibits photothermal property for defrosting and deicing. Furthermore, to break the distance and weather restrictions caused by electro-thermal and photothermal properties, a laser heating route was introduced to the coating, and an active defrosting device was built. Based on the self-monitoring and multi-modal ice/frost control abilities, SC-E/P-SM can be regarded as a practical smart coating with potential applications in vast scenarios.