Enhanced anti-icing performance via bio-inspired papaver radicatum structuring

To avoid the disaster of ice accumulation on outdoor equipment, the construction of photothermal anti-icing surfaces is an efficient approach. Inspired by unique light trapping and photothermal properties of Papaver radicatum growing in latitude 83 degrees 40' N, this work proposes an anti-icing surface with high-efficient photothermal trap capacity and super -hydrophobicity on TC4 via laser processing. The bio-inspired structure shows light har-vesting with over 94% absorption in the visible spectrum mainly based on minimizing reflection inside constructed petals-like and rough epidermal micro-structures. With such excellent photothermal behaviors and super-hydrophobicity, the as-prepared sample en-dows faster temperature rise and higher temperature difference above 15 degrees C under 1 x 105 Lux simulated Sun luminance. The bio-inspired P. radicatum surface exhibits a strong ca-pacity of anti-icing by inhibiting the nucleation and growth of ice crystals at -30 degrees C. Meanwhile, this proposed structure can effectively delay the formation of frost under sunlight. The structure shows potential applications on field equipment for enhanced photothermal anti-icing property.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).