Novel tactic to attain an ice-phobic polyurethane composite coating
A recent study presents a new tactic to attain an ice-phobic polyurethane (PU) composite coating, which was fabricated by incorporating minor dosages of hybrid silica particles and silicone oil (SO) into the formulation of a commercial aerospace PU topcoat.
The hybrid silica particles were synthesised by anchoring polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) oligomers to silica microspheres. Both hybrid particles and SO amalgamate in the surface matrix of PU to induce a spread of wrinkling micro-loops over the coating. This coating surface morphology is structurally different from the well-known slippery liquid-infused porous surface since no liquid bulk is embedded in the surface matrix of PU coating.
Adjourning the onset of frosting
The icephobic property was characterised on a thermoelectric Peltier cooling plate, over which the frosting extents with cooling in ambient humidity conditions (~75 % RH) were compared. It was possible to adjourn the onset of frosting to ~ −10 of from – 5.6 °C on the aerospace PU topcoat. This outcome is attributed to the micro round loops with folding edges and peripheric wrinkles that possess low-temperature softness and play a pivotal role in deferring icing inside the overlying water droplets.
The study has been published in Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 172, November 2022.
