Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
ACS Nano. 2012 Aug 28;6(8):6536-40. doi: 10.1021/nn303372q. Epub 2012 Aug 9.
Ice formation on surfaces and structures produces damage and inefficiencies that negatively impact all manners of activities. Not surprisingly, for a long time, an unmet challenge has been to design materials capable of minimizing or even eliminating the formation of ice on the surface of the material. In recent years, there were significant efforts to develop such ice-phobic surfaces by building on the advances made with superhydrophobic materials since these, by definition, tend to repel water. However, a robust response includes the ability to deter the formation of ice when a substrate colder than the freezing temperature is exposed either to impacting water droplets or water vapor (i.e., frost formation). In the latter case, superhydrophobic surfaces in high humidity conditions were shown to allow significant ice accumulation. Consequently, a new design idea was needed. In this issue of ACS Nano, it is shown how a liquid-infiltrated porous solid, where the liquid strongly wets and is retained within the material, has many of the properties desired for an ice-phobic substrate. The composite material exhibits low contact angle hysteresis so only small forces are needed to provoke droplets to slide off of a cold substrate. This new slippery surface shows many characteristics required for ice-phobicity, and a method is demonstrated for applying this kind of material as a coating on aluminum. Ice may have met its match.
表面和结构上的冰的形成会产生损害和效率低下，从而对各种活动产生负面影响。毫不奇怪，长期以来，一个未满足的挑战是设计能够最小化甚至消除材料表面结冰形成的材料。近年来，人们做出了巨大努力，通过利用超疏水材料的进展来开发这种抗冰表面，因为这些材料从定义上讲往往会排斥水。然而，一个稳健的反应包括在暴露于撞击的水滴或水蒸气（即霜形成）时阻止冰形成的能力，而基底的温度比冻结温度低。在后一种情况下，高湿度条件下的超疏水表面被证明会导致大量冰的积累。因此，需要一个新的设计理念。在本期 ACS Nano 中，展示了如何使用液体渗透多孔固体，其中液体强烈润湿并保留在材料中，这种复合材料具有许多抗冰基所需的特性。该复合材料表现出低的接触角滞后，因此只需很小的力就可以促使液滴从冷基底上滑落。这种新的光滑表面表现出许多抗冰性所需要的特性，并展示了一种将这种材料作为涂层应用于铝的方法。冰可能已经遇到了它的对手。
