Research Progress of Superhydrophobic Materials in the Field of Anti-/De-Icing and Their Preparation: A Review

Accumulated ice has brought much damage to engineering and people’s lives. The accumulation of ice can affect the flight safety of aircraft and lead to the failure of cables and power generation blades; it can even cause damage to human life. Traditional anti-icing and de-icing strategies have many disadvantages such as high energy consumption, low efficiency, or pollution of the environment. Therefore, inspired by animal communities, researchers have developed new passive anti-icing materials such as superhydrophobic material. In this paper, the solid surface wetting phenomenon and superhydrophobic anti-icing and de-icing mechanism were introduced. The methods of fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces were summarized. The research progress of wear-resistant superhydrophobic coatings, self-healing/self-repairing superhydrophobic coatings, photothermal superhydrophobic coatings, and electrothermal superhydrophobic coatings in the field of anti-icing and de-icing was reviewed. The current problems and challenges were analyzed, and the development trend of superhydrophobic materials was also prospected in the field of anti-icing and de-icing. The practicality of current superhydrophobic materials should continue to be explored in depth.