Researchers Develop Ice-Proof Coating for Large Surfaces
ANN ARBOR, MI — A new class of coatings that sheds ice effortlessly from even large surfaces has moved researchers closer to their decades-long goal of ice-proofing cargo ships, airplanes, power lines and other large structures.
The spray-on coatings, developed at the University of Michigan, cause ice to fall away from structures — regardless of their size — with just the force of a light breeze, or often the weight of the ice itself. In a test on a mock power line, the coating shed ice immediately. A paper on the research is published in Science.