Delayed freezing of water droplet on silver nanocolumnar thin film

Silver nanocolumns were grown on Si substrate using glancing angle deposition method. Interestingly, the cold nanocolumnar surface was observed to make a delay of more than 62 s in freezing compared to the conventional silver thin film. The observed delay in freezing on silver nanocolumns is explainable in terms of reduction in effective liquid-solid interface area within the framework of Cassie-Baxter model. This study shows the possibility of using silver nanocolumnar films in ice free coatings and surfaces with tunable freezing properties.