Skin-Inspired Nanofluid-Filled Surfaces with Tunable Icephobic, Photothermal, and Energy Absorption Properties

Ice buildup can significantly and negatively impact system performance in various industrial sectors, and has remained a persistent challenge for decades. Many compliant materials exhibit excellent de-icing performance but are easily eroded by impacts from supercooled water droplets, sand, dust, and debris. A composite panel inspired by animal skin, consisting of a facesheet protecting a nanofluid layer beneath, which exhibits durable anti-icing and tunable photothermal properties is proposed. The viscous liquid layer beneath the facesheet increases flexural rigidity, preventing large deflections and increasing deformation resistance, which alters ice's adhesion to the surface. The non-uniform fluid pressure exerted by the viscous nanofluid-filled composite panels facilitates ice detachment, resulting in ice adhesion strengths as low as tau(ice) approximate to 10 kPa. Further, by altering the fluid properties, different additional functionalities can be endowed to the system. Incorporating fumed silica in a fluid-filled composite panel results in rheopectic behavior, and this doubles their impact resistance when the shear thickening properties are properly tuned. Additionally, the combination of a transparent facesheet and a solar light absorbent nanofluid allows for tunable photothermal properties, further enhancing the anti-icing performance of the system. This durable and tunable nanofluid-filled composite panel shows great promise as a multifunctional de-icing material.