Study on anti-icing performance of carbon fiber composite superhydrophobic surface

The icing phenomenon widely exists in the nature and has become an urgent problem to be solved in the fields of aerospace, wind power generation, and other fields. Scholars have been undertaking much research on surface anti-icing technology, but it has always been a challenge to develop an efficient, energy-saving, environmentally friendly, stable and durable anti-icing surface. In this study, hydrophobic silica nanoparticles were used to hydrophobically modify the matrix material, and a metal screen was used as a template, combined with hot-pressing process. The superhydrophobic surface of carbon fiber composite material with anti-icing property was prepared. The results showed that the water contact angle of the surface was 156 +/- 2 degrees, the sliding angle was 2 +/- 1.5 degrees, and the number of water drops bouncing on the surface was 7 times. Compared with the untreated test sample, the surface ice content decreased by 4 times, and the ice adhesion strength decreased by 2 times. Besides, the surface also had excellent contact state recovery and mechanical stability. During the process of icing and thawing, the contact state between the droplet and the surface changed spontaneously from Wenzel model to Cassie model. After 30 cycles of icing and de-icing, the surface still maintained a water contact angle of more than 150 degrees and an ice adhesion strength of less than 50 KPa. The preparation method of this study is simply, rapid, lowcost, green and environment-friendly, which provides reliable theoretical guidance and design ideas for surface anti-icing technology and effectively promotes the large-scale production and application of superhydrophobic surfaces in the field of anti-icing.

Automated summary

In this study, hydrophobic silica nanoparticles were used to modify the matrix material, and a metal screen was used as a template to prepare a superhydrophobic surface with anti-icing property on carbon fiber composite material. The surface showed a decreased ice content and ice adhesion strength compared to untreated samples, and also exhibited excellent contact state recovery and mechanical stability. This study provides a simple, rapid, low-cost, green and environmentally friendly method for surface anti-icing technology.