Anti-icing property of superhydrophobic octadecyltrichlorosilane film and its ice adhesion strength

Abstract

An octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) superhydrophobic film using phase-separation method was prepared to demonstrate the anti-icing property of superhydrophobic surfaces. The superhydrophobicity of the film at -5°C was investigated. It was found that the prepared OTS film retained its superhydrophobicity at -5°C by the measurement of contact angle and roll-off angle. The icing progress of water droplets on the surface at -15°C was observed. It showed that the prepared OTS film can markedly retard the icing process of water droplets and dramatically decrease the ice adhesion strength compared with that of blank surface, which can be used as anti-icing surfaces. © 2013 Liang Ge et al.