All‐Day Anti‐Icing/De‐Icing Coating by Solar‐Thermal and Electric‐Thermal Effects

Abstract

Abstract Ice formation is a common phenomenon that brings security risks in numerous fields. A superhydrophobic surface can greatly delay icing time due to its liquid repellence feature, but it fails under cold and humid conditions. In this work, a photo‐thermal@electro‐thermal superhydrophobic coating (PESC) consisting of electric‐conductive carbon nanotubes (ECNTs) and fluoro‐modified polyacrylate is constructed by means of spray to realize both anti‐icing and de‐icing simultaneously. Traditional ECNTs not only provide hierarchical micro‐nano structures to construct superhydrophobic surfaces for anti‐icing, but also guarantee de‐icing capacity because of solar‐thermal and electric‐thermal effects. In warm daytime, enough heat is generated by solar‐thermal conversion to keep the temperature of the coating surface above zero to achieve anti‐icing and de‐icing. On a cloudy day or extremely cold day, the coating also can stay warm to prevent icing, owing to photo‐thermal and electric‐thermal dual effects. And during the cold nighttime, the coating is heated to prevent icing after it is electrified as a result of electric‐thermal effects. The PESC system can reduce electricity consumption from the maximum, fulfilling eco‐friendly and energy saving concepts. This functional superhydrophobic coating with anti‐icing and swift de‐icing performance may have broad application prospects in the power industry.