One Structure, Two Functions: Bioinspired Laser-Textured Photothermal Superhydrophobic Surfaces for Anti-/Deicing

Ice accretion severely threatens the safety and operational efficiency of aircraft, wind turbines, and power-transmission facilities. Passive superhydrophobic surfaces can delay icing, yet they readily fail under low-temperature, high-humidity conditions. Coupling photothermal conversion with superhydrophobicity enables anti-icing through supercooled droplet repellency, interfacial ice melting, and meltwater drainage. This review surveys recent progress in laser-fabricated biomimetic photothermal superhydrophobic anti-icing surfaces. Hierarchical micro/nanostructures are identified as the shared structural basis that integrates broadband solar-light trapping with a stable Cassie–Baxter wetting state. Representative systems approach full-spectrum absorption and reduce ice adhesion by one to two orders of magnitude. Air-mass-1.5 (AM1.5)-weighted solar absorptance is adopted as the primary metric of photothermal performance. This paper compares femtosecond, picosecond, nanosecond, and continuous-wave laser routes, along with laser-induced graphene, in terms of mechanism, typical morphology, processing throughput, and performance limits. The paper examines discrepancies arising from inconsistent absorptance evaluation and ice-adhesion test protocols, and discusses the coupling among droplet repellency, ice-adhesion reduction, photothermal melting, and meltwater drainage. Finally, challenges in mechanical durability, all-weather reliability, scalable manufacturing, and characterization standardization are analyzed, and directions toward structurally integrated, low-energy-consumption anti-icing surfaces are outlined.