Formation of ice causes damage and thus presents a challenge in many areas. In order to
better understand the mechanisms of ice formation, we developed an experimental setup in
our work, which provides an insight into the freezing process and enables the testing of
potential solutions in the form of functionalized surfaces. The developed experimental
setup enables visualization of the freezing process using a high-speed camera. The closed
chamber enables the controlled freezing of water droplets of different volumes at different
surface temperatures in a controlled atmosphere. The influence of different relative air
humidities and droplet size on the freezing process is shown. The reproducibility of the
measurement of the time delay regarding the freezing process of 3.7 µL droplets and the
scatter of the measurements due to the randomness of the freezing process are evaluated.
The anti-icing ability of the superhydrophobic surface is shown, with which we achieved a
significant delay in the onset of ice formation compared to the reference surface.
Furthermore, with the help of a high-speed camera, we demonstrated the progress of the
droplet freezing front and the recalescence process and confirmed the need to use a highspeed camera for a comprehensive evaluation of the freezing process.
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