Removing ice across a variety of surfaces could be an easy task in future with an ‘icephobic’ material developed by University of Michigan researchers. The research team claimed that the new material can help in removing ice from wind turbines, airplanes and other surfaces without damaging the surface.

To improve and simplify the process of ice removal, rubbery polymers should be used, said the University of Michigan research team. Use of rubbery polymers is more practical and useful in removing ice, they added.

“Researchers had been trying for years to dial down ice adhesion strength with chemistry, making more and more water-repellent surfaces. We’ve discovered a new knob to turn, using physics to change the mechanics of how ice breaks free from a surface”, explained Kevin Golovin, a graduate student at the University of Michigan and a researcher of the team, in a press release.

When ice sticks on a material like glass, much force is required to remove it from the surface, said Golovin. The bond between ice and glass becomes so tight that it becomes very difficult to break it without affecting the surface of glass. But if the ice is on the rubbery surface, it becomes very easy to remove it, Golovin continued.

Researchers have been studying ice removal processes since long, but no one had thought of the idea that rubberiness can help in reducing ice adhesion, said Anish Tuteja, associate engineering professor at the university. People have a hunch that as ice is just frozen water, surfaces have to repel water, but that was very limiting, Tuteja added.

The research featured in Science Advances has revealed that successful ice removal needs a stress level below 20 kPa. During the research, the team was able to develop some elastomers with ice adhesion strengths as low as 4 kPa.