Fabrication of Smart Aqueous Self-Lubricating Icephobic Coatings Containing Encapsulated Phase Change Materials (PCM)

Smart icephobic coatings have attracted much attention owing to their promising application prospects in reducing ice adhesion, decreasing ice nucleation temperature, and delaying freezing time. Such coatings can sense changes in environmental stimuli, such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and pH, and provide an anti-icing or deicing response. These coatings can be categorized into several groups depending on the type of stimuli. In the present thesis, we chose two different smart icephobic strategies to develop novel coatings with enhanced anti-icing and deicing properties. First, aqueous self-lubricating coatings were developed by incorporating the polyethylene glycol (PEG)–polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) copolymer in an elastomeric matrix. The presence of hydrophilic groups on PEG–PDMS copolymers can contribute to the formation of a quasi-liquid-like layer (QLL) that can improve the icephobic performance of the coatings. Surface analysis of the fabricated coatings confirmed that blending these copolymers into the elastomeric matrix increased the effective contact area between the water droplet and surface. Moreover, increased copolymer content reduced the ice nucleation temperature and prolonged the freezing-delay time. Two different methods, namely, push-off adhesion and centrifugal adhesion tests, were applied to study ice adhesion on the coatings. In general, adding PEG–PDMS copolymer into the PDMS matrix produced an unfrozen lubricating layer, resulting in decreased ice adhesion. Although excessive copolymer content saturated the coating with copolymer, which led to phase separation. Consequently, the surface roughness heightened; therefore, the ice adhesion strength increased owing to the mechanical interlocking between the ice and surface. Second, given the capability of phase change materials (PCMs) to restore and release a large amount of latent heat during the phase change process, we designed a smart icephobic coating by embedding PCM microcapsules into