A Superhydrophobic and Robust Coating (OSP/MWCNT/H-SiO2) with Efficient Photothermal Conversion for Synergistic Anti-Icing and De-Icing

Ice accretion severely compromises infrastructure safety and efficiency. While integrating photothermal function with superhydrophobicity offers a promising solution, achieving this synergy within a mechanically robust coating remains challenging. Herein, we present a superhydrophobic nanocomposite coating fabricated by embedding multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and hydrophobic silica (H-SiO 2 ) in an organosilicon polymer (OSP) matrix. The OSP/MWCNT/H-SiO 2 coating exhibits good mechanical durability, maintaining superhydrophobicity after severe water and sand impact, owing to the reinforced composite structure. Crucially, the design yields a remarkable photothermal conversion efficiency, achieving a temperature rise of 85 °C under 1.0 kW·m −2 irradiation. This photothermalsuperhydrophobic synergy enables outstanding anti-icing performance, delaying ice formation for over 578 s at -20 °C, and efficient solar-driven de-icing (complete melting within 462 s). Successfully demonstrated on insulators, our coating offers a viable dualfunctional platform to address icing challenges in practical settings.