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A bio-inspired self-dislodging approach of ice

Project description

Smart surfaces offer a cooler way to fight ice

Ice may look harmless, but when it builds up on aircraft, power lines, or wind turbines, it can pose serious risks and lead to costly disruptions. Traditional de-icing methods, which rely on high heat, consume large amounts of energy and can damage materials. Passive methods, though energy-efficient, aren’t enough on their own. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BSAI project is tackling this by mimicking nature. Inspired by how some animals manage water on their skin, researchers are developing a smart surface that sheds ice by altering its wettability. Add a gentle heat gradient, and the process becomes up to 90 % quicker than conventional methods. This could revolutionise how we keep vital infrastructure ice-free.

Objective

Novel and efficient anti-icing/de-icing methods should be continuously explored because ice accumulation has dramatic adverse effects on human activities. Traditional thermal de-icing, as an active technique extensively used in the industry, requires enormous energy input and may deteriorate the functionality of wall material such as epoxies or resins if the temperature is too high. Passive de-icing methods cannot work alone for safety concerns, although they do not require external energy inputs. Therefore, there is an urgent need to integrate the active de-icing method with the passive one, leading to a hybrid anti-icing/de-icing approach. Inspired by natural creatures who usually use their surface structures to realize directional liquid transport for survival, a spontaneous self-dislodging approach of ice is proposed by artificially varying the surface wettability without external energy input. The de-icing performance of this method can be further enhanced by imposing a temperature gradient. Compared with the traditional thermal de-icing method, the required de-icing time can be reduced by more than 90% based on the applicants test cases of this novel hybrid anti-icing/de-icing method that has not previously been proposed. A mathematical model that will be validated by performing Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations will be built to quantify the effects of wettability and temperature variations on the de-icing performance of this novel method. This work will shed light on the design of intrinsically icephobic materials.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 97 037,28
Address
AVENIDA DE SENECA 2
28040 MADRID
Spain

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Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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