Issue 7, 2021

Efficient and economical approach for flexible photothermal icephobic copper mesh with robust superhydrophobicity and active deicing property

Abstract

Facing various problems caused by icing in daily life, preparing photothermal deicing materials with wide applicability in high efficiency and low cost is not only a current research hotspot but also a great challenge. Herein, an economical spray-coating method is applied to prepare high-efficiency flexible photothermal icephobic copper mesh using micro silicon carbide (SiC) particles as photothermal conversion material and nano silica (SiO2) particles as a surface superhydrophobic modifier. Owing to the excellent hierarchical micro–nanostructures, the SiC/SiO2 coated copper mesh exhibits a water contact angle (CA) of 162 ± 2° and a sliding angle (SA) of 3 ± 2°. Interestingly, the coated copper mesh exhibits exceptional mechanical durability against water droplet and water flow impact, repeated bending–twisting and tape-peeling. Benefitting from the robust superhydrophobicity, the SiC/SiO2 coating on the copper mesh can significantly delay the freezing time of the droplets and reduce the ice adhesion strength. Furthermore, the coated copper mesh well retains the good photothermal conversion and thermal conductivity properties of the micro SiC particles. Under NIR irradiation, the surface temperature of the coated copper mesh placed on the ice layer can increase by 35.3 °C in 220 s, so that it can rapidly melt the accumulated frost and ice layer on the inner wall of the refrigerator. The presented flexible photothermal icephobic copper mesh exhibits enormous potential when applied to remove ice from apparatus that is accessible, such as road, overhead transmission lines and power networks owing to its flexibility, economy, and high energy efficiency.

Graphical abstract: Efficient and economical approach for flexible photothermal icephobic copper mesh with robust superhydrophobicity and active deicing property

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
29 Oct 2020
Accepted
14 Dec 2020
First published
22 Dec 2020

Soft Matter, 2021,17, 1901-1911

Efficient and economical approach for flexible photothermal icephobic copper mesh with robust superhydrophobicity and active deicing property

H. Xie, W. Xu, C. Fang and T. Wu, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 1901 DOI: 10.1039/D0SM01930E

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