Moth-eye-inspired texturing surfaces enabled self-cleaning aluminum to achieve photothermal anti-icing

Photothermal effect has attracted widespread attention in anti-icing surfaces due to energy saving and environmental friendliness. However, the development of surfaces with excellent photothermal performance is still limited in real engineering applications like aerospace by cheap material, facile fabrication and highly photothermal efficiency. Inspired by the optical features of the moth eye, a black engineering aluminum with high-efficiency solar anti-icing ability was developed through an ultrafast laser texturing treatment. The resultant anti-icing aluminum surface had regular micro/nano-scaled protrusions, showing good photothermal ability together with superhydrophobicity. The superhydrophobicity enables this surface to delay the freezing time by 5 times than blank one while the photothermal ability increases its surface temperature by 53 °C under one sun irradiation. The synergy of two abilities let the ice on its surface melt within 4 min. Additionally, the self-cleaning ability of the prepared surface enhances the anti-icing efficiency by removing absorbed contaminants affecting the photothermal effect adversely. This all-in-one integration of superhydrophobicity and photothermal effect finally boosts improved anti-icing performance as compared to the traditional superhydrophobic surface or individual photothermal materials. The work provides new insights into the design of enhanced anti-icing surface on the engineering materials with an advanced laser microfabrication.