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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

A new nanotech coating can melt ice on helicopter blades and might offer a new way to de-ice aircraft, wind turbines, and power lines [futurity.org].

In tests, the material melted centimeter-thick ice from a static helicopter rotor blade in a minus-4-degree Fahrenheit environment. When a small voltage was applied, the coating delivered electrothermal heat—called Joule heating—to the surface, which melted the ice.

The coating is a mixture of graphene nanoribbons in epoxy. The nanoribbons, produced commercially by unzipping nanotubes, are highly conductive.
graphene coating on helicopter blade

Rather than trying to produce large sheets of expensive graphene, scientists in the lab of chemist James Tour at Rice University determined years ago that nanoribbons in composites would interconnect and conduct electricity across the material with much lower loadings than traditionally needed.

Previous experiments showed how the nanoribbons in films could be used to de-ice radar domes and even glass, since the films can be transparent to the eye.

“Applying this composite to wings could save time and money at airports where the glycol-based chemicals now used to de-ice aircraft are also an environmental concern,” says Tour.

Original study here [doi.org].

Original Submission