Ultra transparent self-healing photothermal film for anti-icing/de-icing

To address optical degradation in aviation, automotive, and precision optical systems due to surface ice accumulation, a highly transparent self-healing photothermal hydrogel is developed through a simple micellar polymerization method. Quaternized chitosan (QCS) and acrylic acid (AA) are selected as the main components of the gel network (denoted as QAG), which are synergistically integrated with lauryl methacrylate (LMA), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and glycerol. The engineered gel system demonstrates exceptional visible-light transparency (90.17% transmittance at 380~780 nm) remarkable temperature elevation (ΔT = 18 °C) resulting from efficient photothermal activation, rapid autonomous self-healing capability within 30 minutes (under 25℃/60%RH condition) and adaptive conformality to complex topographic surfaces. This work proposes a novel versatile photothermal material that can collectively achieve robust anti-icing functionality without compromising optical precision.