ABSTRACT Superhydrophobic surfaces are prone to ice‐pinning under low‐temperature and high‐humidity conditions, severely restricting their aerospace applications. Cassie ice formation has been shown to delay freezing and significantly reduce ice adhesion strength. However, existing strategies cannot simultaneously facilitate condensate drainage within the microstructure and suppress droplet infiltration, thereby limiting effective Cassie ice formation. To address this challenge, a hierarchically homo‐heterogeneous structured surface featuring dimpled submillimeter pillars surrounded by micropits (DSP‐MP) was developed. The hierarchical structure suppresses droplet infiltration, prevents condensate film formation during icing, and facilitates the outward removal of melting frost during deicing. This design maintains dynamically stable air pockets throughout the entire icing‐deicing cycle, enabling effective Cassie ice formation. Consequently, the DSP‐MP surface delivers exceptional anti‐/deicing performance, including a prolonged icing delay time of 3552 s, an ultralow ice adhesion strength of 1.8 kPa, ice removal at a 10° inclination or under a wind speed of 48 m s − 1 , and efficient anti‐icing and wind‐driven deicing capabilities under varying humidity conditions. These findings provide theoretical and technological support for promoting effective Cassie ice formation under harsh conditions and offer new insights into the design of passive anti‐/deicing systems for aerospace applications.
Zeng et al. (2026) studied this question.