Gradient Liquid‐Like Interface Engineering for Durable Transparent Anti‐Icing and Anti‐Frosting Coatings

ABSTRACT

Ice and frost accumulation blocks light transmission and destabilizes outdoor photovoltaic and optoelectronic systems. Current passive anti‐icing coatings still struggle to simultaneously achieve transparency, anti‐icing performance, and long‐term durability. Liquid‐like coatings are promising for transparent anti‐icing surfaces, yet their high interfacial mobility often comes at the expense of mechanical robustness. Here, we report a durable, transparent, gradient liquid‐like coating fabricated by a one‐step plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition process that addresses this trade‐off through biomimetic gradient interface engineering. Hexamethyltrisiloxane is identified as an effective precursor for constructing a water‐repellent, highly mobile liquid‐like surface, while 1,3,5,7‐tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane forms a crosslinked supporting framework underneath. Interfacial characterizations using atomic force measurements reveal a more compliant and lower‐friction near‐surface liquid‐like region with substantially reduced water pinning. The resulting coating delivers a rare combination of prolonged freezing delay, low ice adhesion, and outstanding durability over 100 icing/deicing cycles and 40 000 abrasion cycles, while preserving high transparency. When applied to solar cells, it effectively suppresses frosting and retains a power conversion efficiency of 10.01% under frosting, compared with 5.18% for the uncoated device. This work establishes gradient plasma‐polymerized liquid‐like interfaces as a practical strategy for durable transparent anti‐icing and anti‐frosting protection of outdoor photovoltaic and optoelectronic systems.