Icing impairs operation of helicopters and other aircraft, antennae, power and communication lines, shipping and superstructures, canal locks, etc. Prevention or easier removal of icing requires reduction of its adhesion strength.

Low ice adhesion coating has been the worldwide interest of research fields. NASA Lewis has performed icing research for over 6o years, operating the world's largest refrigerated icing tunnel, the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT). The airspeeds up to 160m/s (350 mph), low temperature to -30° C (-20° F), water spray droplets 15-40 micron with content of 0.2-3.4 g/m3 are for ice impact ice tests. During 60 years period numerous requests have been received from organizations ranging from in size from individual inventors to large corporations to test "ice-phobic" coatings for prevent ice from adhering to aircraft surfaces. Many large corporations, such as DuPont, PPG, Dow Chemicals, and BFGoodrich Aerospace maintain the interest in the development of low ice-adhesion coatings. NASA witnessed that Du Pont samples tested in IRT with a record low of about 50% of uncoated forces.  

Fluonova, Inc. (previous Elastic Ceramic Coatings, ECC) have involved in low-ice-adhesion coatings and had provided 12 different material samples tested in IRT and had 2 types with lowest record of about 30-50% of uncoated forces.** By understanding the material structure-ice adhesion relation. Fluonova has improved its technique on low ice-adhesion coatings. Now it provides FC-Al FC-E series of low ice-adhesion coatings. FC-AL series is for aluminum and light alloys. It is a perfluoro functional polymer that requires high temperature (200-250° C) treatment to form a transparent permanent thing coating with low ice-adhesion, corrosion resistant, low dielectric properties. FC-E series form elastomeric low ice adhesion coating under  ambient temperature.

FC-Al series can be used to reduce ice adhesion on aluminum and other light alloys for prevent surface ice acumination. The power line and wind turbine surfaces are benefited not only with low ice-adhesion but also corrosion resistance. FC-E series is elastomeric for low ice adhesion coatings.

FC-E series can be used to reduce ice adhesion on glass windows, elastic surfaces, cables, electric wires. 

Ice adhesion is results from surface hydrogen bonds with water, and Van der Waals forces is a secondary force. Low surface energy, low contact angle, low wetting, and air occlusion reduces ice-adhesion. The material submicron structures on low energy surfaces are very important. The nature, animal in cold region teach us how the simple wax and the superstructures of surfaces provided the anti-icing answers. However, low adhesion for impact ice is much more difficult to solve. It require delicate surface structures, low surface energy, and strong mechanical strength, and erosion and abrasion resistances. We leaned that, for example, air occlusion, waxy structure, semi-liquid structure, carpet structures are all failure with high speed impact icing.  Fluoropolymers with special structures are required to reduce ice adhesion.

Fluonova Inc provides LuxeColor® FSI series for glass window application, such as the glass windows for automobile, boat, and aircraft. The application is easy: 1). Clean the glass and pay attention to remove any residue of surfactants completely; 2). Wipe FSI coating saturated paper on the glass and polish with a small size paper to have a clear view, and 3). Waiting for 4 hours.   

** AIAA-97-0303: Tests of the Performance of Coatings for Low Ice Adhesion, D. N. Anderson, NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH and A.D. Reich, BFGoodrich R&D Center, Brecksville, OH