Superhydrophobic photothermal coatings based on polyurea for durable anti-icing and deicing

Reparation of superhydrophobic coating with anti-icing and deicing function is crucial for outdoor power equipment. In this study, silica was combined with polyurea to prepare polyurea-silica composite particulates, which were then incorporated into siloxane along with graphite powder to create a robust superhydrophobic photothermal coating. The developed coating, characterized by its micro-nano hierarchical structure and the blackbody characteristic of carbon materials, exhibits outstanding superhydrophobic properties and photothermal conversion efficiency. The photothermal performance leads to a rapid temperature increase to 90.3 °C within 600 s under 100 mW/cm² of irradiation. The coating demonstrates remarkable anti-icing properties, delaying the freezing time of a 100 µL droplet for up to 2956s, coupled with a low ice adhesion strength measuring 20∼30 kPa. Moreover, the coating displays excellent photothermal de-icing properties, facilitating the rapid melting of frozen droplets and their easy removal from the surface. Anti-icing/de-icing experiments on power system insulators confirmed that the coating exhibits outstanding anti-icing and photothermal deicing performance, making it a viable alternative for practical applications.