Icephobic and antisoiling performance of PDMS coating filling with inert silicon oil after prolonged outdoor exposure

Recently, much attention has been paid to the icephobic property of slippery lubricant-infused surfaces, but little attention has been paid to their antisoiling property. In this work, we prepared polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coatings by using methyltriacetoxysilane (TM-003) as a crosslinking agent and filling with a certain amount of inert silicone oil. We systematically studied the icephobic and antisoiling performances of these PDMS coatings by placing them outdoors for 1–2 months. Ice-adhesion strength test confirmed that the coating surface filled with inert silicone oil was more icephobic and had a better icephobic effect as the amount of inert silicone oil increased. EDS mapping confirmed that after outdoor exposure for 1–2 months, a small amount of dust deposited on the coating surface, which could be removed mostly by water rinsing and wind. The ice-adhesion strengths of the coating surface increased with the time of outdoor exposure increasing but decreased after several cycles of icing/deicing and finally stabilized at a certain level. XPS characterization confirmed that a small amount of dust was embedded in the coating surface. This work firstly confirmed that if the air was not clear, dust particles in the air would adhere to the coating and the icephobic properties of the coating would deteriorate irreversibly to some extent.