The morphology and doping effects for ice adhesion on alumina surface

Ice formation on the surfaces of high-voltage wires could result in disaster. Superhydrophobic (SHP) treatment of the wire surfaces to reduce the icing adhesion is considered as a promising anti-icing strategy. Thus, the microscopic mechanism of icing adhesion needs to be investigated, including the icing process on a solid surface with different morphology and proper chemical doping among some others. In order to understand this ice adhesion at atomistic scale, nanoscale ice pulling and shearing on Al-terminated α-Al2O3(0001) surface with different morphology and doped atoms are evaluated by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The results show that the ice stress on surface is anisotropic and related to the solvent accessible surface area (Π) and non-bonded interaction. For all the surfaces, the largest stress is the shearing in perpendicular to the groove direction, whereas the smallest one is the pulling stress in normal to a surface. In particular, the ice adhesion induced stress seems to be proportional to parameter Π. Furthermore, it is suggested that the Fe-doping onto the Al-surface can reduce the non-bonded interaction and also Π, and thus the ice adhesion stress. The results are confirmed with anti-icing experiments at the same time, which help to understand the microscopic mechanism of ice adhesion on surfaces with different roughness, and provide new insights onto anti-icing technology. •Nanoscale ice pulling and shearing on α-Al2O3(0001) surface with different morphology and doped atoms are evaluated•The ice stress on surface is anisotropic and related to the solvent accessible surface area (Π) and non-bonded interaction.•The Fe-doping onto the Al-surface can reduce the non-bonded interaction and also Π, and thus the ice adhesion stress.