Robust durable photothermal superhydrophobic coatings based on mussel-inspired adhesion chemistry for efficient anti-/de-icing

Icing on overhead transmission lines could lead to significant power system failures and substantial losses. Although superhydrophobic surfaces had proven effective in preventing icing, the surface structure and function of the most superhydrophobic anti-icing surfaces with low melting efficiency were easily damaged in extreme weather conditions. In this study, robust photothermal superhydrophobic coatings with excellent mechanochemical and icing-melting durability based on the fast mussel-inspired adhesion chemistry were developed. The abundant active functional groups in polydopamine (PDA), including phenolic hydroxyl and amino groups, enabled robust bonding between the aluminum alloy (Al) substrate and the hydrophobic layer via multiple bonding effects. The photothermal superhydrophobic surface (Al@DPDA-FAS) could reach the contact angle (CA) of 158 ± 3° and the sliding angle (SA) of 3°, and showed good photothermal property with temperature of 80.9 ℃ after 10 min of irradiation under 1 sun. Moreover, its delayed icing time significantly extended to 436 s, and the photothermal ice-melting time was shortened to 65 s, demonstrating anti-icing and de-icing performance. Additionally, the excellent durability of Al@DPDA-FAS was confirmed in various assessments, including mechanical abrasion, chemical soaking, cyclic icing/melting. Its surface still had superhydrophobicity after 12 m of sandpaper abrasion, soaking in acid for 18 h, soaking in alkali for 3 days and 40 cycles of icing/melting, respectively. Moreover, the corrosion inhibition efficiency of Al@DPDA-FAS could reach 99.49 % in comparison with the bare Al surface. This work presented a novel approach to develop a robust superhydrophobic coatings with excellent photothermal anti/de-icing property through mussel-inspired adhesion chemistry.