Smart Surface Design for Efficient Ice Protection and Control

Icing is a natural phenomenon that impacts various aspects of daily life and safety, including aeronautics, ground transportation, critical operations, power systems (like power lines, wind turbines, and solar panels), communication systems, and infrastructures. In particular, activities at high latitudes or altitudes require energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable ice protection solutions.

Current solutions for preventing or delaying icing, reducing icing rates, and facilitating ice removal include both active and passive systems. However, technological challenges in designing coating-based anti-icing systems have hindered their industrial application.

SURFICE (www.surfice-itn.eu) is a European Training Network funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 programme, aiming to create a rational framework for designing, fabricating, and testing icephobic surfaces for industrial applications. The consortium includes universities, research institutions, enterprises, and partner organizations from eight European countries (Italy, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland). The three main research objectives are: investigating the physics of icing on complex microstructured surfaces, designing new icephobic/anti-icing materials and coatings, and developing technologies for efficient ice prevention and control.

This book consolidates information on the modeling, coating, material preparation, characterization, fabrication, and applications of anti-icing surfaces into one volume. By discussing all aspects together, readers gain a comprehensive understanding of anti-icing coating strategies based on icephobicity and their potential industrial applications.

The book is divided into two parts: the first covers the theory and state-of-the-art physics of icing on surfaces, while the second presents scientific advances from the SURFICE project, including industry case studies in aeronautics, energy systems, and sensor technologies. It is a valuable resource for materials scientists, physicists, chemists, and engineers interested in surface, colloid, polymer science, and thermodynamics related to icing phenomena and coating strategies.