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Spray-on "Repellent" Could Make Freezers Frost Free

posted by takyon on Wednesday March 16 2016, @12:45AM   
from the give-them-the-slip-off dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

On your car windshield, ice is a nuisance. But on an airplane, wind turbine, oil rig, or power line, it can be downright dangerous. And removing it with current methods—usually chemical melting agents or labor-intensive scrapers and hammers—is difficult and expensive work.

But a new durable and inexpensive ice-repellent coating could change that. Thin, clear, and slightly rubbery to the touch, the spray-on formula could make ice slide off equipment, airplanes, and car windshields with only the force of gravity or a gentle breeze.

Researchers say the discovery could have major implications in industries like energy, shipping, and transportation, where ice is a constant problem in cold climates.

The coating could also lead to big energy savings in freezers, which today rely on complex and energy-hungry defrosting systems to stay frost-free. An ice-repelling coating could do the same job with zero energy consumption, making household and industrial freezers up to 20 percent more efficient. The paper is published in the journal Science Advances [open, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501496].

Essentially, the rubbery coating jiggles and shakes the ice off.

University of Michigan source.

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Original Submission

• Re:Water (Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday March 16 2016, @02:02AM

  by c0lo (156) on Wednesday March 16 2016, @02:02AM (#318856) Journal

  I've always wondered if hydrophobic coatings would help keep ice from forming. I'm sure someone has probably tried them.

  They tested it: the result is that superhydrophobic surfaces tend to act as icephobic as well:

  Using a silicon mold with a square array of holes, we fabricated icephobic (τice = 26 ± 3 kPa), PDMS-based micropillars (see Materials and Methods). Droplets of water placed on such a surface display superhydrophobicity, with θ_{adv water} / θ_{rec water} = 165°/161° and a low roll-off angle of 3° (Fig. 4). Such surfaces effectively repel water (above 0°C) through minimizing the solid-liquid contact area and solid ice (below 0°C) through low ρCL and interfacial slippage. The differing mechanisms allow for a superhydrophobic surface to remain icephobic even when the surface is fully frosted.

  The Science Advances FA is CC licensed.

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  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

  Parent

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