Fluorine-Free and Transparent Superhydrophobic Coating with Enhanced Anti-Icing and Anti-Frosting Performance by Using D26 and KH560 as Coupling Agents

Superhydrophobic surfaces with non-wetting characteristics have been considered to be potential candidates for ice/frost prevention. In this study, a transparent superhydrophobic coating was created by using a simple method that employed (3-glycidoxypropyl) trimethoxysilane (KH560) and 1,2-Bis (trimethoxysilyl) ethane (D26) as coupling agents and epoxy resin (E51) as an adhesive. The synergy between KH560 and D26 significantly improves the long-term outdoor durability, anti-icing, and anti-frosting performance of the superhydrophobic coating. The coating also has good acid and alkali resistance, UV resistance, and durability. The obtained SiO2@E51@KH560@D26 can delay the freezing time of water by 1974 s, much longer than bare glass (345 s) and also longer than the coatings with only D26 (932 s) or with only KH560 (1087 s). Moreover, the SiO2@E51@KH560@D26 showed an improved anti-frosting capability compared with the other three samples and better maintained its superhydrophobic properties at low temperatures. Our study proposes a potential method to fabricate a superhydrophobic coating with both anti-icing and anti-frosting properties.