A Bioinspired Micro‐Grooved Structure for Low Snow Adhesion and Effective Snow‐Shedding
Many outdoor devices require effective snow prevention solutions, yet existing passive anti-icing technologies are inadequate for snow repellency due to the variability of snow properties. This study addresses this gap by proposing a bioinspired micro-grooved anti-snow structure that minimizes van der Waals forces through reduced contact area and mitigates capillary effects via a V-shaped design, facilitating the separation of liquid water at the interface. Snow-shedding performance is shown to be highly sensitive to surface roughness, with the periodic smoothness of micro-grooves significantly reducing mechanical interlocking with snow. In contrast, hierarchical superhydrophobic structures strongly interlock with ice grains, preventing spontaneous snow-shedding even at extremely low adhesion forces. By embedding superhydrophobic nanoparticles into the micro-groove structure, this study presents a multifunctional design that integrates anti-icing, anti-snow, and water-repellent properties. Experimental results demonstrate that the structure effectively balances adhesion reduction and snow-shedding performance, showing promising potential for photovoltaic solar power systems and large-scale architectural applications.
Authors
- Yang He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4659-9349)
- Zexiang Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0862-8578)
- Weizheng Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9490-7188)
- Kun Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1331-8080)
- Zeyu Kong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1792-1386)
- Yalin Tang
Institutions
- Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (CN)
- Northwestern Polytechnical University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Materials
- Published
- 2025-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202500839
- Citations
- 15
- Primary Topic
- Surface Modification and Superhydrophobicity
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.92
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- National Key Research and Development Program of China