This work aims to develop robust, dynamic, anti-icing coatings for aerospace applications through the variation of three main material characteristics including hydrophobicity, low surface energy and thermo-responsive molecular ordering.  Aircraft icing is an accumulation of water droplets that freeze in an aircrafts' induction system and/or on the instrumentation that negatively influences performance and efficiency of the aircraft.  Current methods of alleviating this issue rely on the application of toxic deicing fluids that are inefficient and expensive as a whole.  The research presented focuses on the prevention of icing rather than merely responding to ice after it has already manifested.We have previously synthesized crosslinked networks comprised of hyperbranched fluoropolymers (HBFP) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which demonstrated superb anti-biofouling capabilities credited to their amphiphilic morphology, nanoscopic surface topography and dynamic surface reorganization.  By extension, this research seeks to expand the application of these materials by exploiting their characteristics for the purpose of inhibiting the organization of water into ice crystals, and subsequently, preventing the formation of ice.  Initial differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data show that the materials presented here exhibit inhibition of ice formation, as determined from reductions in the water melting transition temperatures (freezing point depressions).  An array of films was synthesized varying the PEG crosslinker content to study the effect of PEG-to-HBFP ratio on the efficiency of these materials.  Based on DSC data obtained from this preliminary study, a second array of films was developed by varying the drop-casting solvent that was used during film preparation.  The advances of these materials will be discussed in terms of formulation, the structure-function relationship driving the empirically-derived melting transition temperature and the final effect on the water phase at the surface.

Development and testing of intricate, amphiphilic crosslinked hyperbranched fluoropolymers as anti-icing coatings in aerospace and defense applications

247th National Meeting (2014)

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