THE ICING OF AIRCRAFT WINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES DURING FREEZING RAIN CONDITIONS HAS PRESENTED A CIVILIAN AND MILITARY PROBLEM FOR MANY YEARS.

THE ICING OF AIRCRAFT WINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES DURING FREEZING RAIN CONDITIONS HAS PRESENTED A CIVILIAN AND MILITARY PROBLEM FOR MANY YEARS. ICEPHOBIC COATINGS THAT LOWER THE ADHESIVE BOND STRENGTH OF THE ICE TO THE CONTACT SURFACE ARE PERHAPS THE BEST APPROACH TO THIS PROBLEM. WITHLOW ADHESION, THE ICE IS REMOVED BY THE APPLICATION OF A LITTLE ADDITIONAL FORCE. THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ICEPHOBICS EVALUATED TO DATE ARE BASED ON SILICONE CHEMISTRY AND APPEARTO FUNCTION WELL INITIALLY, REDUCING THE SHEAR STRENGTH TO 5 PSI. THE DIFFICULTY WITH THESE MATERIALS IS THAT THEIR EFFECTIVENESS IS LOST THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL ERROSION EFFECTS. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THIS PROBLEM MAY BE SOLVED WITH THE USE OF FLUORINE-MODIFIED SILICONE/URETHANE ELASTOMERIC COATINGS. SUCH COMPOUNDS, PREPARED FROM THE REACTION OF ISOCYANATES AND FLUOROALKYL SILOXANE DIOLS, SHOULD HAVE PROPERTIES IDEAL FOR THIS APPLICATION. THE PRESENCE OF LONG CHAIN FLUOROALKYL GROUPS SHOULD REDUCE SURFACE ENERGY AND WETTING, SUCH THAT ICE ADHESION IS REDUCED TO A MINIMUM. THE POLY(SILOXANE) SEGEMENTS CONTRIBUTE FLEXIBILITY AND ELONGATION, AND THE URETHANE FUNCTIONALITY SHOULD GIVE A TOUGH ABRASION-RESISTANT AND LONG-LIFE COMPOSITION. BOTH THERMOPLASTIC AND CURABLE FORMULATIONS WILL BE EVALUATED FOR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES, SURFACE ENERGY AND ICE ADHESION. THIS GRANT IS FUNDED AS PHASE I OF SMALL BUSINESS INNSERTIONRESEARCH.