Hydrophobicity prediction model of hydrophobic nano-SiO2/carbon nanotube composite coating and influence of structural fluctuation on deicing performance

An SiO2-CNT composite hydrophobic coating (abbreviated as S-C coating) was constructed using hydrophobic nano-SiO2 particles with mixed particle size, hydrophobic carbon nanotube particles and fluorine-silicone resin. A hydrophobicity prediction model of the S-C coating was also constructed by response surface methodology to accurately predict and control the hydrophobicity of the coating. An S-C superhydrophobic coating with similar hydrophobicity but different structure fluctuation was successfully prepared using the prediction model. The structural fluctuation of the coating was mainly formed by the entanglement of CNT particles. The SiO2 particles of the mixed particle size acted to fix and further enhance the structural fluctuation of the coating structure. The most suitable structural fluctuation of the S-C superhydrophobic coating for deicing performance is between 2 and 3 µm. This study has significant implications for the construction of superhydrophobic deicing surfaces.