Photo: Cornelius Ventures | Unsplash
During winter, ice on road sign, cables, and airplanes threaten infrastructure failures and accidents. Up until now, ice on cables and road signs has been removed by hitting the slabs to to induce vibration while airplanes have been sprayed with de-icing chemicals and airplane wings have been heated. While necessary, these solutions are not sustainable as they require large amounts of energy and chemicals. Researchers at McGill University’s Biomimetic Surface Engineering Laboratory have looked to nature for a different solution and found it in the feathers of penguins. Penguin feathers have water- and ice-shedding properties. To mimic the feathers' microstructure, researchers selected stainless steel cloths with wire diameters and pore sizes similar to those of the feathers. This mesh surface showed about 95 per cent decreased ice adhesion strength compared to smooth stainless steel. Researchers will continue to test the material on road signs to investigate its longterm stability and feasibility.
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