Prevention and control of ice nucleation on surfaces is important in many applications, including aircraft efficiency, highway maintenance, and building construction. Yet the science underlying ice formation is poorly understood and few viable anti-icing techniques are currently available. The present work demonstrates that water- repelling nanostructured superhydrophobic surfaces can be used to prevent ice accumulation of impacting droplets under icing conditions due to their limited contact time with the substrate. Our results are in good quantitative agreement with a simple theoretical model involving classical heterogeneous nucleation theory and wetting dynamics. This study reveals how surface and liquid temperatures, surface feature topography, substrate material properties, and pressure stability should be considered in the design of superhydrophobic anti-icing surfaces. We anticipate that this work will form the foundation for the development of robust, scalable, rationally-designed anti-icing surfaces.

Controlling ice formation on nanostructured superhydrophobic surfaces

240th National Meeting (2010)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.