All-Ceramic TiC Whisker on Flexible Substrates: Uniform Joule Heating, Extreme Durability, and Reduced Material Footprint for Cold-Weather Surfaces

Abstract

Ice accretion on aircraft skins, wind blades, and exposed electronics had demanded thin heaters that worked at low voltage and survived abrasion and heat. Existing metallic or carbon films often require encapsulation or oxidation, or they fail under bending. The study targeted the gap of a durable, all-ceramic network that delivered rapid de-icing at modest power. The objective was to demonstrate titanium carbide (TiC) nanowhisker films as low-voltage electro-thermal coatings and to quantify their durability. TiC whiskers were assembled by filtration/spray onto glass or polyimide, characterized by XRD/XPS/SEM/TEM, and tested using four-probe measurements, IR thermography, de-icing at −20 °C, and bending/abrasion/thermal holds. Films exhibited sheet resistance of 28–35 Ω sq⁻¹ and ohmic I–V behaviour; heating reached ~130–150 °C within ≤30 s at 2–5 V, with <4% spatial variation. De-icing completed in 40–60 s at ≤0.25 W cm⁻². Endurance showed ΔR/R₀ ≈15% after 10⁴ bends, <10% after 50 abrasion cycles, and ≤20% after 500 °C holds. These results indicated a refractory, passivated, interlocking network that matched or outperformed carbon/metal heaters at lower power.