Reducing ice adhesion by hierarchical micro-nano-pillars

This study aimed to elucidate the role of bio-inspired texture geometry in wettability and ice adhesion. Micro/nano pillars with different geometric parameters were first designed and fabricated, and ice adhesions on textured surfaces were then measured using an apparatus developed in-house. The surface with hierarchical micro-nano-pillars herein had the least ice adhesion, which was far less than the surface with micro-pillars and smooth surface without any structure (MN < M < S). Ice adhesion on the MN surface is smaller by almost 3-5 times than that on the M-surface and S-surface. A theoretical model based on the contact area was proposed to illustrate the relationship between surface texture and ice adhesion. The surface geometry change resulted in different ice-substrate contact areas and thus different ice adhesions. These results are significant in designing anti-icing/ice-phobic surfaces for practical applications because ice adhesion can be tailored by micro/nano pillar geometry.