Intelligent Icephobic Surface towards Self-deicing Capability

Superhydrophobic surfaces show attractive anti-icing properties. However, it remains a challenge for them to achieve icephobicity and ultralow ice-adhesion in a humid environment, which is fundamentally attributed to the icing behavior on their hierarchical textures. Here we address the issue by integrating a superhydrophobic copper mesh with an intelligent organogel that can secrete anti-freezing agent (AF agent) autonomously in response to temperature. The anti-freezing agent is comprised of ethylene glycol and water. By autonomously secreting the anti-freezing agent at subzero temperatures, the hybrid surface effectively inhibits the frosting process on the hierarchical texture of the superhydrophic mesh. Consequently, the surface not only exhibits excellent anti-frosting properties in humid atmosphere, but also repeatedly removes the ice deposited spontaneously due to ultralow ice-adhesion (8 Pa). This integration of intelligent organogel paves a new and promising avenue to design superhydrophobic sur...