Bioinspired self-healing MXene-based photothermal superhydrophobic coating for efficient anti-icing/de-icing and sterilization

Bioinspired self-healing MXene-based photothermal superhydrophobic coating is fabricated via spray coating. • This coating achieves surface superhydrophobicity, photothermal conversion, self-healing, and photothermal sterilization. • This coating is developed for high-efficiency anti-icing, de-icing, and sterilization applications Ice accumulation in low-temperature environments not only results in significant economic losses but also poses a serious threat to industrial operations and public safety. Although photothermal superhydrophobic coatings have emerged as the effective and promising candidates for anti-icing and de-icing applications, their insufficient mechanical robustness and pronounced performance degradation under realistic icing conditions pose major challenges to their long-term viability and practical implementation. Here, we report a bioinspired self-healing MXene-based photothermal superhydrophobic coating (denoted as EVA@PAgDMX coating), which simultaneously exhibits exceptional surface superhydrophobicity, efficient photothermal conversion, durable self-healing capability, and effective photothermal sterilization. The design and fabrication of this multifunctional EVA@PAgDMX coating involve spray-coating a homogeneous suspension composed of superhydrophobic Ti₃C₂Tₓ MXene nanosheets and poly (ethylene- co -vinyl acetate) (EVA) dissolved in ethyl acetate. Specifically, the multifunctional EVA@PAgDMX coating simultaneously achieves both exceptional passive anti-icing and highly efficient active de-icing, achieved through the synergistic integration of superhydrophobicity and exceptional photothermal conversion capability. Moreover, this coating demonstrates exceptional photothermal sterilization performance, primarily attributable to its high photothermal conversion efficiency. Its intrinsic superhydrophobicity further contributes to antibacterial protection by minimizing bacterial adhesion and facilitating self-cleaning, thereby working complementarily with the photothermal effect. Collectively, this work establishes a rational design strategy and a practical fabrication pathway for a high-performance self-healing MXene-based photothermal superhydrophobic coating, holding significant promise for advanced applications in photothermal anti-icing/de-icing, as well as surface disinfection. Download: Download high-res image (182KB) Download: Download full-size image