Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Coatings to prevent frost

  • Published:
Journal of Coatings Technology and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The ability of hydrophobic, organic–inorganic hybrid coatings to decelerate frost propagation was investigated. Compared to a bare aluminum surface, the coatings do not significantly reduce the freezing probability of supercooled water drops. On both surfaces, the probability for ice nucleation at temperatures just below 0°C, for example at −4°C, is low. Freezing of a single drop on aluminum leads, however, to instant freezing of the complete surface. On hydrophobic coatings, such a freezing drop is isolated; the frozen area grows slowly. At −4°C surface temperature in a +12°C/90% relative humidity environment, on surfaces providing a water contact angle hysteresis of about 10° and receding water contact angles higher than 90°, a rate for the growth of the average radius of the frozen area of about 2 µm/s was observed. Submitting the surface to an airflow of 1 m/s led to faster frost spreading in flow direction. Although the airflow compromised the anti-ice properties to some extent, the application of the hydrophobic coating in a heat recovery ventilation experiment extended the time interval between defrosting cycles by a factor of 2.3.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Meuler, AJ, McKinley, GH, Cohen, RE, “Exploiting topographical texture to impart icephobicity.” ACS Nano, 4 (12) 7048–7052 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Stenzel, V, Rehfeld, N, Functional coatings, pp. 91–106. Vincentz Network, Hannover (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Ariampour, F, Farzaneh, M, Kulinich, SA, “Hydrophobic and ice-retarding properties of doped silicone rubber coatings.” Appl. Surf. Sci., 265 546–552 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Meuler, AJ, Smith, JD, Varanasi, KK, Mabry, JM, McKinley, GH, Cohen, RE, “Relationships between water wettability and ice adhesion.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2 3100–3110 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jung, S, Tiwari, MK, Doan, NV, Poulikakos, D, “Mechanism of supercooled droplet freezing on surfaces.” Nat. Commun., 3 615 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Kulinich, SA, Farhadi, S, Nose, K, Du, XW, “Superhydrophobic Surfaces: Are They Really Ice-Repellent?” Langmuir, 27 25–29 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cassie, ABD, Baxter, S, “Wettability of porous surfaces.” Trans. Faraday Soc, 40 546–551 (1944)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wier, KA, McCarthy, TJ, “Condensation on ultraphobic surfaces and its effect on droplet mobility: ultrahydrophobic surfaces are not always water repellent.” Langmuir, 22 2433–2436 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Varanasi, K, Hsu, M, Bhate, N, Yang, W, Deng, T, “Spatial control in heterogeneous nucleation of water.” App Phys Lett, 9 094101–094103 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Varanasi, K, Deng, T, Hsu, M, Bhate, N, “Hierarchical superhydrophobic surfaces resist water droplet impact,” Technical Proceedings of the 2009 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Expo, NSTI-Nanotech 2009 07/2011, 3

  11. Bischoff, CS, Holberg, S, “Repellent coating composition and coating method for making and uses thereof.” WO 2012/083970 A1, 2012

  12. Holberg, S, Bischoff, C, “Application of a repellent urea-siloxane hybrid coating in the oil industry.” Prog. Org. Coat., 77 1591–1595 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Majumdar, P, Webster, DC, “Surface Microtopography in Siloxane-Polyutethane Thermosets: The Influence of Siloxane and Extent of Reaction.” Polymer, 48 (26) 7499–7509 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Esteves, ACC, Lyakhova, K, van der Ven, LGJ, van Benthem, RATM, de With, G, “Surface Segregation of Low Surface Energy Polymeric Dangling Chains in a Cross-Linked Polymer Network Investigated by a Combined Experimental–Simulation Approach.” Macromolecules, 46 1993–2002 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Vali, G, “Ice Nucleation—Theory,” Paper presented at the NCAR/ASP 1999 Summer Colloquium, Boulder(CO), http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~vali/nucl_th.pdf. (1999)

  16. Heneghan, AF, Wilson, PW, Haymet, ADJ, “Heterogeneous Nucleation of Supercooled Water, and the Effect of Added Catalyst.” PNAS, 15 9361–9634 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Gavish, M, Wang, J, Eisenstein, M, Lahav, M, Leiserowitz, L, “The Role of Crystal Polarity in Alpha-Amino Acid Crystals for Induced Nucleation of Ice.” Science, 256 815–818 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Chen, XM, Ma, R, Zhou, H, Zhou, X, Che, L, Yao, S, Wang, Z, “Activating the Microscale Edge Effect in a Hierarchical Surface for Frosting Suppression and Defrosting Promotion.” Sci. Rep., 3 2515 (2013). doi:10.1038/srep02515

    Google Scholar 

  19. Jamieson, MJ, Nicholson, CE, Cooper, SJ, “First Study on the Effects of Interfacial Curvature and Additive Interfacial Density on Heterogeneous Nucleation. Ice Crystallization in Oil-in-Water Emulsion and Nanoemulsions with Added 1-Heptacosanol.” Cryst. Growth. Des., 5 (2) 451–459 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fu, QT, Liu, EJ, Wilson, P, Chen, Z, “Ice Nucleation Behavior on Sol-Gel Coatings with Different Surface Energy and Roughness.” Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. (PCCP), 17 21492–21500 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Jung, S, Dorrestijn, M, Raps, S, Das, S, Megaridis, CM, Poulikakos, D, “Are Superhydrophobic Surfaces Best for Icephobicity?” Langmuir, 27 3059–3066 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Hirayama, M, Siegmann, K, Meola, G, “Freezing point-lowering surface coatings.” US, 20110152557 A1 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Charpentier, TVJ, Neville, A, Millner, P, Hewson, RW, Morina, AJ, “Development of Anti-icing Materials by Chemical Tailoring of Hydrophobic Textured Metallic Surfaces.” Colloid Interf. Sci., 394 539–544 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Vonnegut, B, “The Nucleation of ice Formation by Silver Iodide.” J. Appl. Phys., 18 593–595 (1947)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Zielke, SA, Bertram, AK, Patey, GN, “A Molecular Mechanism of Ice Nucleation on Model AgI Surfaces.” J. Phys Chem B., 119 (29) 9049–9055 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Boreyko, JB, Collier, CP, “Delayed Frost Growth on Jumping Drop Superhydrophobic Surfaces.” ACS Nano, 7 1618–1627 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Kim, P, Wong, T-S, Alvarenga, J, Kreder, MJ, Adorno-Martinez, WE, Aizenberg, J, “Liquid-Infused Nanostructured Surface with Extreme Anti-ice and Anti-frost Performance.” ACS Nano, 6 (8) 6569–6577 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Hoke, JL, Georgiadis, JG, Jacobi, AM, “Effect of Substrates Wettability on Frost Properties.” J Thermophys Heat Transf., 18 (2) 228–235 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Zhang, Q, He, M, Li, K, Cui, D, Chen, J, Wang, J, Song, Y, Jiang, L, “Condensation Mode Determines the Freezing of Condensed Water on Solid Surfaces.” Soft Matter., 8 8285–8288 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Dooley, JB, “Determination and Characterization of Ice Propagation—Mechanisms on Surfaces Undergoing Dropwise Condensation,” Ph.D. thesis, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, (2010)

  31. Rahimi, M, Afshari, A, Fojan, P, Gurevich, L, “The Effect of Surface Modification on Initial Ice Formation on Aluminum Surfaces.” Appl Surf Sci, 355 327–333 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. The Engineering Toolbox, www.engineeringtoolbox.com. (Accessed 2016)

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the EU-commission for financial support through the EnE-HVAC Project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Technological Institute, Kongsvang Allé 29, 8000, Åarhus C, Denmark

    Ricardo Losada, Stefan Holberg & Jeanette M. D. Bennedsen

  2. Aarhus University School of Engineering, Hangøvej, 28200, Åarhus N, Denmark

    Jeanette M. D. Bennedsen

  3. Exhausto A/S, Odensevej 76, 5550, Langeskov, Denmark

    Klavs Kamuk & Finn Nielsen

Authors
  1. Ricardo Losada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stefan Holberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jeanette M. D. Bennedsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Klavs Kamuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Finn Nielsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ricardo Losada.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Losada, R., Holberg, S., Bennedsen, J.M.D. et al. Coatings to prevent frost. J Coat Technol Res 13, 645–653 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-016-9809-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-016-9809-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation