Fabrication of Flower-like Superhydrophobic Surface by Hydrothermal Treatment for Anti-icing

In this work, a flower-like superhydrophobic structure fabricated by hydrothermal treatment on an Al alloy surface has been proposed for anti-icing applications. The surface structure is composed of dense micron-scale flowers and hexagonal petals that are dispersedly distributed. This surface contributes to the excellent water repellent property. The contact angle (CA) is up to 155.4° and the rolling angle can be as low as 4.2°. A significant delayed ice nucleation of 188 s has been illustrated, which is nearly six times longer than the bare surface. Furthermore, a slow propagation of the spherical ice front has been registered as well, due to freezing acceleration at the droplet edge and retardation at the center. The ice front propagates five times slower than that on a bare surface. This study is hypothesized to provide a reference for understanding freezing phenomena on hierarchical superhydrophobic surfaces and designing anti-icing and anti-frosting surfaces.