Abstract
Environmentally friendly functionalized inorganic–organic hybrid materials (polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes—POSS) imparting anti-icing properties to a commercial waterborne polyurethane coating matrix have been successfully synthesized deploying a possible industrial manufacturing route by a two-step procedure. Thereby, 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was mainly used to ensure complete conversion of the given reactive polydimethylsiloxane-based modifier with selected amino-functionalized POSS intermediates at given stoichiometry. Two distinguished nanocomposite coatings based on the functionalized POSS additives were investigated for their suitability towards improved anti-icing properties. The characterization includes contact angle (CA) measurements and determination of freezing delay time (FDT) as well as scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) to underline the results obtained. The findings clearly contribute to the complex interplay of material composition and coating interface emphasizing segregation of partly immiscible additives in the coating matrix being necessary for the enhanced water-repellence and anti-icing performance.