Electronic devices operating in extreme cold environments, such as outdoor base stations and polar unmanned aerial vehicles, require not only electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding but also effective anti-icing and deicing capabilities to prevent ice formation and accretion. Protective materials that integrate anti-icing/deicing and EMI shielding functions are critically in demand. The multifunctional superhydrophobic Ti3C2Tx MXene/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thin film presented herein accomplishes this goal through rational material selection and structural design. A continuous MXene-flakes-constructed conductive network is embedded with radially diameter-arranged PMMA microspheres driven by electrostatic force. Tightly packed nanospheres generate abundant hierarchical wrinkles on the surface, establishing the structural foundation for light absorptivity (89.56%) and hydrophobicity, which reaches a water contact angle of 155.6° after further hydrophobic modification. The existence of PMMA also prevents supercooled droplet penetration into the composite structure under high-humidity environments and prolongs icing time by retarding heat transfer simultaneously. Due to the excellent photothermal and electrothermal properties of MXene, the film surface can remain ice-free for extended periods (>1000 s) under low-temperature and high-humidity conditions with minimal external energy input, while also enabling rapid removal of any accumulated ice. The film remains superior EMI shielding performance, showing an EMI SE of 54.2 dB at 35 ± 7 μm thickness at X-band. This work supplies a promising approach for efficiently integrating anti/deicing and EMI shielding functions.
Liu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.