Durable Coating to Prevent Aircraft Icing

The accretion of ice in arctic environments is an expensive problem for the power transmission and microwave industries; the military, whether on land, sea, or in the air; and airlines that operate in blizzard-like conditions. Traditional de-icingtechnology relies on chemicals to melt the accreted ice and is only a temporary solution. Some coatings have been explored that attempt to prevent the formation of ice on a surface, but many of these are also temporary solutions. TPL proposes a durable coating that will significantly delay the formation of ice on a variety of surfaces. The coating is a molecular combination of organic and inorganic constituents specifically designed to be durable and ice phobic. The inorganiccomponent will impart hardness and durability, while the organic part will impart flexibility and ice phobicity. The wet- chemically derived coating is easy to apply and has excellent adhesion. Proposed coatings will be evaluated for ice phobicity by the Army's Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory, which is well-known for their abilities in icing research. Mechanical and dielectric properties will be tested by TPL, whose investigators have extensive experience and resources in wet-chemically derived coating technology Materials and surface coatings are needed to protect exposed structures and systems (e.g., ships, automobiles, aircraft, locks and dams, communication and power deliverysystems, and environmental instrumentation) against unwanted ice accumulation caused by freezing precipitation and in-cloud icing. Many of these applications are for arctic installations, including military and commercial microwave and r.f. towers andpower transmission lines, and equipment that is permanently or temporarily operated in arctic conditions or blizzards, such as aircraft and ships.