Durable icephobic acrylic polyurethane coating with ultra-low interfacial toughness for efficient large-scale deicing

Ice accretion adversely affects various productions and daily activities. Existing passive deicing materials are divided into icephobic and low interfacial toughness (LIT) coatings, suitable for ice removal of small- and large-area, respectively. However, they tend to lack scalability or durability, limiting the practical utility. Herein, thermosetting acrylic polyurethane (APU) was investigated for large-scale deicing applications by examining the detachment behavior of extended-length ice on its surface. Despite the ice adhesion strength reaching up to 400 kPa, the APU demonstrated interfacial toughness with ice as low as 0.88 J/m², with the apparent ice adhesion strength below 48 kPa for ice measuring 20 cm in length. Further, by modifying the surface of APU with liquid-like polydimethylsiloxane chains, we realized the combination of LIT coating and liquid-like surface for the first time. The interface between this resultant double-layered coating and ice achieved both low toughness (<1 J/m²) and low strength (<100 kPa) (LTS), enabling efficient ice removal at any accumulation scale. This LTS coating also maintained excellent ice resistance after multiple icing/deicing cycles, sandpaper abrasion, and water flow impact. When applied to various substrates, it still exhibited superior ice resistance, demonstrating strong potential for broad deicing applications.