Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have found a new method to de-ice aircraft surfaces using a mixture of graphene nanoribbons, a boon to airlines which cancel many flights during extreme winter weather.
Researchers at the Rice University in US developed a thin coating of graphene nanoribbons in epoxy that can effectively de-ice helicopter blades, aircraft, wind turbines, transmission lines and other surfaces exposed to extreme cold.
They melted centimetre-thick ice from a static helicopter rotor blade in a minus-4-degree Fahrenheit environment.
When a small voltage was applied, the coating delivered electrothermal heat - called Joule heating - to the surface, which melted the ice.
The nanoribbons produced commercially by unzipping nanotubes are highly conductive.
Rather than trying to produce large sheets of expensive graphene, the researchers found that nanoribbons in composites would interconnect and conduct electricity across the material with much lower loadings than traditionally needed.
Previous experiments showed how the nanoribbons in films could be used to de-ice radar domes and even glass, since the films can be transparent to the eye.
"Applying this composite to wings could save time and money at airports where the glycol-based chemicals now used to de-ice aircraft are also an environmental concern," said James Tour from Rice University.
In lab tests, nanoribbons were no more than five per cent of the composite.
The researchers, including undergraduate Tanvi Varadhachary, spread a thin coat of the composite on a segment of rotor blade supplied by a helicopter manufacturer; they then replaced the thermally conductive nickel abrasion sleeve used as a leading edge on rotor blades. They were able to heat the composite to more than 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
For wings or blades in motion, the thin layer of water that forms first between the heated composite and the surface should be enough to loosen ice and allow it to fall off without having to melt completely, Tour said.
The lab reported that the composite remained robust in temperatures up to nearly 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
The coating may also help protect aircraft from lightning strikes and provide an extra layer of electromagnetic shielding, Tour said.
The study was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
