Fabrication of Durable Superhydrophobic Aluminium Surface and its Anti-icing Properties

The breakdown which caused by icing of transmission lines has been one of the serious disasters of power system. Superhydrophobic surfaces (SHS) which can delay icing process and has extremely low ice adhesion strength had a promising application in anti-icing field. In this work, superhydrophobic anti-icing surfaces were prepared on aluminum alloy by a method combination of chemical etching and anodization. The morphology, chemical composition and wettability of the SHS were investigated by using corresponding methods. The anti-icing behavior in glaze were investigated. The robustness of SHS was evaluated by cyclic icing/deicing tests. The as-prepared SHS exhibited outstanding superhydrophobicity and anti-icing property. The freezing of water droplet was delayed effectively. In addition, the fabricated anti-icing surface retained mechanical robustness after a number of icing/deicing cycles. After 30 cycles of icing/deicing, the ice adhesion strength kept below 70 kPa and the contact angle still kept above 150°. This work provides some useful advises for the design and fabrication of anti-icing surface.