Effect of plasticizer on the wear behavior and ice adhesion of elastomeric coatings

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this paper is to study the effect of wear on the ice adhesion of elastomeric coatings. Approaches in designing surfaces with lower ice adhesion include imparting hydrophobicity, lubrication, crosslink density reduction or induction of interfacial slippage. For icephobic surfaces to find widespread use, it is imperative that they are durable. In the current work, a suitable plasticizer is used to modify the cross-link density and stiffness of a polyurethane elastomeric coating. The wear behavior of the modified elastomer under two body abrasion is studied in terms of its weight loss and topography evolution. The wear loss varies with the coating stiffness, wherein the elastomer with lower stiffness exhibits higher weight loss. The evolution of surface topography as a function of wear is analyzed in terms of roughness parameters and autocorrelation length, and its effect on the ice adhesion behavior of the coating. The results show that wear initially increases ice adhesion, but adhesion reduces as wear propagates due to the evolution of surface topography. The study shows that, among the samples tested, a 20%–30% plasticizer content produces a good combination of icephobicity and wear resistance.