Characterization and mechanism of a new superhydrophobic deicing coating used for road pavement

Abstract

Owing to its high efficiency and low environmental impact, superhydrophobic deicing coating material has a bright future for application on road pavements. In this paper, a heterogeneous nucleation ice crystal growth model is proposed, with particular focus on the effect of surface roughness and the contact angle. The ice suppression mechanism of superhydrophobic materials is determined by this model and experimentally verified. The experimental results of the water contact angle and anti-skid tests illustrated that the prepared TiO2–octadecanoic acid coating material has a contact angle greater than 150◦ and good skid resistance. The freezing test confirms that the applied coating on the surface can effectively delay the crystallization of water droplets and maintain the waterdrop’s semi-spherical shape after freezing. The microstructure observation demonstrates the TiO2–octadecanoic acid material has a good micro-nano mastoid structure. Consequently, the proposed coating materials could possibly be utilized for effectively enhancing the deicing performance of pavements.