Laser-Engineered Superhydrophobic Carbon Fiber Fabrics as Multifunctional Surfaces for Passive Anti-Icing and Active Electrothermal De-Icing

Laser-engineered superhydrophobic carbon fiber fabrics (CFFs) were developed as multifunctional surfaces for passive anti-icing and active electrothermal de-icing. Two laser-based texturing strategies─direct laser ablation of carbon fibers and laser-induced transfer of aluminum micro/nanoparticles─were employed to generate hierarchical surface roughness, followed by fluorosilane chemisorption. Both approaches produced stable Cassie-Baxter wetting states with water contact angles exceeding 160° while retaining superhydrophobicity after abrasive wear, with contact angles remaining above 154° and 157° for the two coatings, respectively. Superhydrophobic CFFs exhibited pronounced anti-icing behavior, delaying ice nucleation and preserving supercooled water droplets for tens of hours at moderate subzero temperatures. Under weak electrothermal heating, anti-icing performance was maintained down to -40 °C, where small droplets frequently evaporated before freezing. Compared to hydrophilic and hydrophobic fabrics, superhydrophobic CFFs enabled ice removal predominantly via interfacial sliding rather than melting, leading to substantial reductions in de-icing energy consumption and time. In particular, one optimized coating reduced ice removal time by more than a factor of 4 and total energy consumption by more than a factor of 3 relative to the untreated fabric. A clear distinction was observed between the two texturing strategies. Aluminum-textured CFFs exhibited lower electrical resistance and more efficient heat delivery to the ice-fabric interface, minimizing the total energy required to initiate ice sliding, whereas laser-textured CFFs showed higher electrical resistance and faster surface temperature rise, resulting in shorter de-icing times. These results demonstrate a decoupling of energy efficiency and temporal response in electrothermal de-icing, enabled by laser-induced surface texturing. Overall, this work establishes superhydrophobic CFFs as durable, low-power platforms for combined passive anti-icing and active electrothermal de-icing in severe cold environments.