Anti-frosting/anti-icing property of nano-ZnO superhydrophobic surface on Al alloy prepared by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Superhydrophobic (SHP) surfaces had promising application in anti-icing field. In this work, ZnO SHP surfaces were prepared on aluminum alloy by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. The structure, chemical composition, morphology, wettability of the SHP surfaces were investigated by using corresponding methods. The anti-frosting/anti-icing performance of the ZnO SHP surfaces were investigated. Morphology of surfaces showed that sputtering time affected the surface morphology of the ZnO surfaces. When the sputtering time was 15 min, the rough structure exhibited excellent anti-frosting/anti-icing property due to the exceptional superhydrophobicity and self-transfer behavior at subzero temperature, which composed by densely gathered nanoclusters. The freezing of water droplets was delayed for about 2 h, and frosting was delayed for approximately 5 h at the temperature of −10 °C. The SHP surfaces could efficiently enhance the anti-icing property in glaze ice. Meanwhile, the as-prepared ZnO SHP surfaces displayed a low ice-adhesion strength of 12 ± 4.7 kPa. However, the structure with large undulation and pore space reduced the anti-frosting/anti-icing property of the SHP surface. This work provided a direction for the design and preparation of anti-icing surfaces for power transmission lines.