How to avoid the latent problem caused by ice frozen on the aircraft has been an important issue in the aviation field. Recently

the concept of passive anti-icing ice on the surface of hydrophobic materials has been proposed and developed rapidly. In this paper

the mechanism and method of preventing surface icing at the stage of droplet impact are introduced. The research methods including the reduction of the contact time of water droplet and surface and reducing the formation time of ice nucleus

are systematically reviewed. And the anti-icing mechanism of the droplets after freezing is also mentioned. The research progress of reducing the ice adhesion by hydrophobic surface performance and micro/nanostructure morphology is concerned. Finally

the development of hydrophobic surface anti-icing is prospected.