Icephobicity Research On Superhydrophobic Surface With Micro-nano-binary Structure

Superhydrophobic surfaces have great applications in many fields due to their excellent water-repellency. At present, some investigation progresses on the superhydrophobic surfaces have been achieved in many aspects such as fundamental theory, preparation method, and application, etc. However, the icephobicity researches on superhydrophobic surfaces are few and not systemic. Thus, the icephobicity researches on superhydrophobic surfaces need to be reinforced. In this paper, on the basis of summarizing previous literatures, the icephobicities have been studied on several kinds of superhydrophobic surfaces under the conditions of dropping water to form ice and producing condensed water to form ice. The icephobicity mechanisms have been analyzed and discussed by the combination of establishing models and observing the microstructure characteristics and wettabilities under both common and condensation conditions. The main investigation contents and innovation points are listed as follows:(1) A facile and novel method was proposed to fabricate a superhydrophobic surface with micro-nano binary structure on a low density polyethylene(LDPE) substrate. The water contact angle and sliding angle of the as-prepared superhydrophobic LDPE surface were 155±2 ° and 4°, respectively. The icephobicity was studied on the as-prepared superhydrophobic surface, and the results showed that the icephobicities of the as-prepared superhydrophobic LDPE surface are better than smooth LDPE surface under both the conditions of dropping water to form ice and producing condensed water to form ice.(2) The icephobicities were studied for the first time on the superhydrophobic Kummerowia stipulacea, Thalia dealbata leaf, and Torenia fournieri petals. For comparasion, the icephobicities were also studied on the superhydrophobic leaves of Salix babylonica and Canna generalis. The experimental resuts showed that the icephobicities of the Kummerowia stipulacea and Thalia dealbata leaf were better than the Torenia fournieri petals, Salix babylonica leaf, and Canna generalis leaf. The icephobicity differences of the five different superhydrophobic plant surfaces were investigated by establishing models and observing the surface microstructure characteristics and the wettabilities under both the common and condensation conditions. According to the analysis of the icephobicity differencies, we drew a conclusion: the icephobicity of the superhydrophobic surfaces with the low height of micro structure and abundant nano structure is better than those with high height of micro structure and less nano structure.(3) Five superhydrophobic surfaces with similar surface structure to the natural plants were obtained on LDPE substrates by template duplication method using the Kummerowia stipulacea, Thalia dealbata leaf, Torenia fournieri petals, Salix babylonica leaf, and Canna generalis leaf as the original temlate. The icephobicities were performed on the as-prepared five superhydrophobic LDPE surfaces with similar surface structure to the plant species, and the results showed that the icephobicities of the five superhydrophobic LDPE surfaces with similar surface structure to the plant species were all better than the commo smooth LDPE surface. Moreover, the five superhydrophobic LDPE surfaces with similar surface structure to the plant species showed good stability.