Vicente Adrián, Rivero Pedro J, Santos Cleis, Rehfeld Nadine, Rodríguez Rafael
Engineering Department, Campus de Arrosadía S/N, Public University of Navarre, 31006 Pamplona, Spain.
Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics (INAMAT2), Campus de Arrosadía S/N, Public University of Navarre, 31006 Pamplona, Spain.
Polymers (Basel). 2024 Nov 30;16(23):3386. doi: 10.3390/polym16233386.
The development of superhydrophobic, waterproof, and breathable membranes, as well as icephobic surfaces, has attracted growing interest. Fluorinated polymers like PTFE or PVDF are highly effective, and previous research by the authors has shown that combining these polymers with electrospinning-induced roughness enhances their hydro- and ice-phobicity. The infusion of these electrospun mats with lubricant oil further improves their icephobic properties, achieving a slippery liquid-infused porous surface (SLIPS). However, their environmental impact has motivated the search for fluorine-free alternatives. This study explores polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as an ideal candidate because of its intrinsic properties, such as low surface energy and high flexibility, even at very low temperatures. While some published results have considered this polymer for icephobic applications, in this work, the electrospinning technique has been used for the first time for the fabrication of 95% pure PDMS fibers to obtain hydrophobic porous coatings as well as breathable and waterproof membranes. Moreover, the properties of PDMS made it difficult to process, but these limitations were overcome by adding a very small amount of polyethylene oxide (PEO) followed by a heat treatment process that provides a mat of uniform fibers. The experimental results for the PDMS porous coating confirm a hydrophobic behavior with a water contact angle (WCA) ≈ 118° and roll-off angle (αroll-off) ≈ 55°. In addition, the permeability properties of the fibrous PDMS membrane show a high transmission rate (WVD) ≈ 51.58 g∙m∙d, providing breathability and waterproofing. Finally, an ice adhesion centrifuge test showed a low ice adhesion value of 46 kPa. These results highlight the potential of PDMS for effective icephobic and waterproof applications.
超疏水、防水且透气的膜以及憎冰表面的开发已引起越来越多的关注。像聚四氟乙烯（PTFE）或聚偏氟乙烯（PVDF）这样的含氟聚合物非常有效，并且作者之前的研究表明，将这些聚合物与静电纺丝诱导的粗糙度相结合可增强其疏水性和憎冰性。向这些静电纺丝垫中注入润滑油可进一步改善其憎冰性能，从而实现光滑的液体注入多孔表面（SLIPS）。然而，它们对环境的影响促使人们寻找无氟替代品。本研究探索了聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）作为理想候选材料，因为其具有诸如低表面能和高柔韧性等固有特性，即使在非常低的温度下也是如此。虽然一些已发表的结果考虑将这种聚合物用于憎冰应用，但在这项工作中，首次使用静电纺丝技术制备了95%纯的PDMS纤维，以获得疏水性多孔涂层以及透气且防水的膜。此外，PDMS的特性使其难以加工，但通过添加极少量的聚环氧乙烷（PEO），随后进行热处理过程，得到了均匀纤维垫，从而克服了这些限制。PDMS多孔涂层的实验结果证实了其具有疏水性行为，水接触角（WCA）≈118°，滚落角（αroll-off）≈55°。此外，纤维状PDMS膜的渗透性能显示出高传输速率（WVD）≈51.58 g∙m∙d，具有透气性和防水性。最后，冰附着力离心测试显示冰附着力值低至46 kPa。这些结果突出了PDMS在有效憎冰和防水应用方面的潜力。
