Abstract
Ice-nucleating proteins (INPs) are the most effective ice-nucleating agents that play a significant role in preventing freeze injuries in freeze-tolerant organisms. INPs promote ice nucleation in the extracellular space, harvesting water from cells due to the low vapor pressure of ice compared with water, thereby protecting freeze-tolerant organisms from intracellular freezing. The antifreeze mechanism of INPs offers a unique opportunity to inhibit large-scale freezing by localized control of ice formation, with valuable enlightenment in anti-icing material sciences. By learning from nature, we transferred the excellent ice nucleation-facilitating capability of INPs along with an antifreeze concept of spatially controlled ice nucleation to anti-icing material design, fabricating icephobic coatings that consisted of patterned hydrogel-encapsulated INP (PHINP). The ice patterns were templated by patterned PHINPs via the tuning of ice nucleation so that the ice coverage fraction could be controlled by <30% on almost all PHINP-coated surfaces. Combining PHINP with solar-thermal conversion surfaces endowed the composite coatings with high anti-icing performances at any time of the day.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 104-111 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | CCS Chemistry |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Anti-icing
- Hydrogel
- Ice nucleation
- Ice-nucleating proteins
- Multifunctional