Ice accretion on the surfaces of various infrastructures such as transmission lines, bridges, wind turbines, and other structures, and vehicles like ships and airplanes can cause safety issues, prevent proper functioning, and results in premature damage. Traditional methods like mechanical scraping, heating, or the use of chemical treatments like anti-freeze or salt mixtures are either very time-consuming, inefficient in the complete removal of ice, costly, or environmentally hazardous. Application of coatings on the top surface to delay the formation or ease the removal of ice has gained research momentum. Several hydrophobic/icephobic surfaces have been studied, but most of them either lack durability due to poor mechanical properties, lack proper adhesion to the surface, or are not efficient. Similarly, applying multiple layers of coating to promote adhesion and get the desired surface properties can be costly. In this study, we investigated the use of a single component moisture-curable urea-siloxane coating in anti-icing applications. The urea linkage can provide good adhesion and mechanical strength while the siloxane chains provide durability and flexibility to the coating. We used different silicone oil additives in the coatings formulation at different percentages to study the ice adhesion, contact angle, surface energy, and surface morphology. The oils can leach out from the polymer network over time and provide a lubricating property to the surface, thus enabling easy removal of ice. This fundamental study helps in understanding the interaction of silicone oils with the matrix and their applicability for use in ice-shedding surfaces.

Moisture-curable urea-siloxane coating for anti-icing applications

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