Hyper-anti-freezing bionic functional surface to -90°C

Zhaolong Wang; Mingzhu Xie; Qing Guo; Yibo Liao; Ce Zhang; Yongping Chen; Zhichao Dong; Huigao Duan

doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad177

Hyper-anti-freezing bionic functional surface to -90°C

PNAS Nexus. 2023 May 31;2(6):pgad177. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad177. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Authors

Zhaolong Wang¹, Mingzhu Xie¹, Qing Guo², Yibo Liao¹, Ce Zhang³, Yongping Chen^{4

5}, Zhichao Dong⁶, Huigao Duan¹

Affiliations

¹ Interdisciplinary Research Center of Low-carbon Technology and Equipment, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, 1 South Lushan, Changsha 410082, PR China.
² MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai 200240, PR China.
³ Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), 104 Youyi Road, Beijing 100094, PR China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Energy Thermal Conversion and Control of Ministry of Education, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, 2 Sipailou Road, Nanjing 210096, PR China.
⁵ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Micro and Nano Heat Fluid Flow Technology and Energy Application, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, 99 Xuefu Road, Suzhou University of Science and Technology; Suzhou, Jiangsu 215009, PR China.
⁶ Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Materials and Interface Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1 Hudong Road, Beijing 100190, PR China.

Abstract

Freezing phenomenon has troubled people for centuries, and efforts have been made to lower the liquid freezing temperature, raise the surface temperature, or mechanical deicing. Inspired by the elytra of beetle, we demonstrate a novel functional surface for directional penetration of liquid to reduce icing. The bionic functional surface is fabricated by projection microstereolithography (PµSL) based three dimensional printing technique with the wettability on its two sides tailored by TiO₂ nanoparticle sizing agent. A water droplet penetrates from the hydrophobic side to the superhydrophilic side of such a bionic functional surface within 20 ms, but it is blocked in the opposite direction. Most significantly, the penetration time of a water droplet through such a bionic functional surface is much shorter than the freezing time on it, even though the temperature is as low as -90°C. This work opens a gate for the development of functional devices for liquid collection, condensation, especially for hyperantifogging/freezing.

Keywords: Laplace force; PμSL based 3D printing; anti-icing; liquid unidirectional penetration.