Simultaneous enhancement of hydrophobicity and anti-icing properties of aluminum surface through DBD plasma treatment

Superhydrophobic surface achieved within four minutes of surface modification. • DBD plasma treatment extended the icing time of droplets on aluminum by 7 times. • DFT calculations reveal adsorption grafting of precursor-derived fragments on Al. • Work function reduction correlates with improved hydrophobic/anti-icing properties. Improving the hydrophobicity and anti-icing performance of metal surfaces helps ensure the long-term operational safety of outdoor devices in power systems. This study performed modification on aluminum substrates using Ar/Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. Wettability tests and icing experiments were conducted on the modified substrates, informing that a superhydrophobic/anti-icing coating has been efficiently deposited within four minutes. Specifically, the water contact angle reached 150° while the icing time increased by approximately sevenfold. The mechanism for the functionalized film deposition was explored by investigating discharge characteristics and surface characterizations. The results indicate that treatment time plays a vital role in the morphology and chemical composition of the functional SiO x C y H z film. Furthermore, to reveal the plasma deposition mechanism, first-principles calculations were performed to obtain adsorption configurations and energies of Si-containing species on the Al surface. Among them, the oxygen-containing particles such as (CH 3 ) 3 SiO bind most robustly to the substrate and their grafting significantly reduces the surface energy and work function. Based on theoretical analysis, it has been clarified how Ar/HMDSO plasma deposition enhances the hydrophobicity and anti-icing properties of aluminum. This research is expected to promote the application of low-temperature plasma in the surface modification of metal devices. Download: Download high-res image (199KB) Download: Download full-size image