It is of great significance to grasp the role of surface topography in de-icing, which however remains unclear yet. Herein, four textured surfaces are developed by regulating surface topography while keeping surface chemistry and material constituents same. Specifically, nano-textures are maintained and micro-textures are gradually enlarged. The resultant ice adhesion strength is proportional to a topography parameter, i.e. areal fraction of the micro-textures, owing to the localized bonding strengthening, which is verified by ice detachment simulation using finite element method. Moreover, the decisive topography parameter is demonstrated to be determined by the interfacial strength distribution between ice and test surface. Such parameters vary from paper to paper due to different interfacial strength distributions corresponding to respective situations. Furthermore, since hydrophobic and de-icing performance may rely on different topography parameters, there is no certain relationship between hydrophobicity and de-icing.
Keywords: Superhydrophobic; de-icing; ice adhesion; ice detachment simulation; interfacial strength distribution; surface topography.
The role of surface topography in de-icing is verified to be determined by the interfacial strength distribution between ice and surface experimentally and numerically, unveiling the relationship between hydrophobicity and de-icing.
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by National Institute for Materials Science in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group.