Wettability, water repellent and anti-icing properties of superhydrophobic and liquid-infused surfaces

The icing disaster of transmission lines threatens the safety of power system. Superhydrophobic (SHP) and liquid-infused surfaces (LIS) are two typical new anti-icing surfaces. Herein, the properties of SHP and LIS were compared including wettability, water repellent and anti-icing properties. SHP was prepared by hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution etching and silane modification. LIS was prepared by injecting lubricant into the SHP, and silicone oil was used as lubricant. The aluminum material selected for the aluminum conductor was used as the substrate. Both SHP and LIS exhibit excellent anti-wetting properties and water droplet mobility (SA was about 2 degrees). Notably, LIS has a large adsorption force on water droplets in the direction perpendicular to the surface. The droplet can bounce on SHP, while it can only leave the inclined LIS by slow sliding. Contrarily, LIS exhibits an extremely low ice-adhesion strength, about 1.4% of SHP, and the ice-adhesion strength increases slowly during the icing/deicing cycles. Therefore, although the SHP exhibits better hydrophobicity and dynamic water repellency than the LIS, the LIS shows better anti-icing performance at low temperatures. This work provides useful information for choosing anti-icing surfaces based on practical applications.