Hydrogel coatings prevent icing in three different ways.

Materials scientists at UCLA's Samuri School of Engineering and their colleagues in China have developed a coating that prevents ice from forming.
way it works is inspired by natural mechanisms that prevent blood from freezing in several fish that live near Antarctica. The new coating may be a cheap and versatile solution that prevents aircraft wings, outdoor pipes and other critical components from freezing at low temperatures

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, the ice formation process on solid surfaces is complex and diverse, making it a daunting challenge to design ice-free materials that work under different icy conditions in complex real-life environments.
Dfunctional Anti-Ice Platform
Scientists have now reported a multi-functional ice-proof platform based on poly-electrolyte hydrogels attached by polydymethane (PDMS), which simultaneously inhibits ice core formation, prevents ice growth and reduces ice adhesion.
compared to conventional full hydrophobic onts (e.g. PDMS), the nature of the interface water can be controlled by regulating the synergy between hydrophobic and ion-specific. This provides us with a promising way to integrate various ice-hating advantages into one material. The controllability of interface water enables the polyelectrogen hydrogel coating to have high performance in suppressing ice nucleation (ice nucleation temperatures below -30 degrees C), preventing ice propagation (ice propagation rate below 0.002 cm 2 / s) and reducing ice adhesion (ice). Bonding strength below 20 kPa).
the study has been published in the journal Matter.
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