Lubricated icephobic coatings prepared by flame spraying with hybrid feedstock injection

Lubricated icephobic coatings were fabricated by flame spraying with hybrid feedstock injection. In this one-step process, composite coatings were produced by spraying a matrix material from a combustion flame spray gun and a lubricating additive from an injector, externally to the flame. External injection avoided possible thermal degradation of the heat sensitive additive during spraying. Inexpensive and widely available feedstock materials were used, polyethylene as the matrix and solid cottonseed oil as the lubricating additive. The coating properties were investigated by thermal and chemical analyses, surface roughness and wettability measurements at room temperature and in cold conditions. The icephobic behaviour was evaluated by accreting ice from supercooled water droplets in the icing wind tunnel. Ice adhesion was measured by the centrifugal ice adhesion test. The results showed that lubricant addition improved the icephobic performance of the coatings. Moreover, cooling the flame temperature with compressed air addition reduced thermal degradation of polymers. This was beneficial for the icephobic behaviour, thus lowering the shear ice adhesion strength down to 23 kPa +/- 6 kPa. In conclusion, lubricated icephobic coatings were successfully produced by combining the hybrid feedstock injection and the thorough optimization of process parameters. This approach provides a potential surface engineering solution for the industrial sectors facing icing problems.