Dartmouth professor invents instant de-icing film

That annoying winter morning ice-scraping ritual that much of the country is forced to endure pre-commute (well, those of you who travel to work by car instead of shuffling the five feet from bed to desk) may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a new film developed by a Dartmouth University College professor that can de-ice treated surfaces almost instantly. Engineering prof Victor Petrenko (not, as Cnet helpfully points out, the same man who dazzled us-- though also on ice -- at the 1992 Olympics) had previously worked on creating ice-repellent materials with government funding before deciding that the cold stuff will inherently stick to any surface due to its triple-bonding ability, and starting a company called Ice Engineering to shift his research focus onto thin films that could be applied to existing structures. The result was a breakthrough technology called pulse electrothermal de-icing (PETD), whose brief bursts of electricity not only break the two strongest chemical bonds between ice and surface almost immediately, but can be shortened to actually cause the ice to rapidly melt and re-freeze in a stronger bond for applications like skiing where greater stickiness is desired. Although there are no immediate plans to implement this film onto passenger cars -- the first applications will be for industrial de-icing of airplane wings, windshields, and turbines, and on the upcoming Swedish Uddevalla Bridge -- you can bet that the Lexuses, BMW's, and Mercedes' of the world are eagerly eying this tech as yet another way to differentiate their high-end offerings and justify those luxury pricetags.

[Via Slashdot]

[Alan Partridge @ Apr 16th 2006 2:35PM]

The plural for Lexus is Lexi. It's the Japanese Mercedes

[Zack @ Apr 16th 2006 3:16PM]

i have another solution, blow torch, instantly breaks/melts the bonds that are formed by ice

i think we may be overlooking the versitility of the blow torch

[MacroEQ @ Apr 16th 2006 3:19PM]

What a great idea. If you live in Australia or California, just nod your head and smile.

[Wry Cooter @ Apr 16th 2006 3:32PM]

I invented a windshield de-icing film. It was basically a sheet of plastic film that I would put over the windshield before the ice storm, and the next morning, I would pull the sheet off the windshield, along with all the ice and snow that had accumulated on it.

Ask me about my dining table decrumbing sheet sometime.

[G @ Apr 16th 2006 4:17PM]

Dartmouth COLLEGE

[Dustin @ Apr 16th 2006 4:33PM]

Doesnt it cost an S load to de-ice those planes maybe thisll lower the cost of air travel (probably not)

[Rob W @ Apr 16th 2006 5:55PM]

Lexii, actually.

[Erin @ Apr 16th 2006 6:11PM]

There shouldn't be apostrophes on BMWs and Mercedes.

[Kevin Woo @ Apr 16th 2006 6:25PM]

Dartmouth "College". Graduates of Dartmouth, including myself, are rather sensitive about Dartmouth remaining a college instead of becoming a university. It is because Dartmouth was able to remain a private college instead of becoming a state-owned university in a landmark case. Thanks to the case, we still have private education.

[Am @ Apr 16th 2006 6:35PM]

I'm sure the plural of Lexus is Toyotas.

[nb @ Apr 16th 2006 7:01PM]

lexus's wouldn't be lexi, lexus is the brand name, it wouldn't change.

[Alan Partridge @ Apr 16th 2006 7:20PM]

If you dont get "Lexi is the plural of Lexus", it was just a joke from a British sitcom. ( I'm Alan Partridge)

[-sun @ Apr 16th 2006 8:03PM]

its snowing right now in california ... *nods head*

[Pantsman @ Apr 16th 2006 8:54PM]

I live in Australia and work (and live) at the ski fields... *nods head*

[david a @ Apr 16th 2006 10:46PM]

wow how many 12 volt batteries does is this guy using?! You are talking a lot of AMPS more than your normal car. Some people are good at getting press.

[Bob @ Apr 17th 2006 1:04AM]

I was thinking the same thing as the last entry. It's hard to see how the batteries are wired. But, this requires either a huge voltage or current or both. Nice idea, but doesn't look practical. They are working on skiis too. Anyone interested in carrying all those batteries while you ski to increase your friction by a fraction?...Wax on...

[BSTalker @ Apr 17th 2006 5:52AM]

There are other ways to produce more power you know...

http://jnaudin.free.fr/meg/meg.htm

Or check out Tesla's work from almost 100 years ago!

[tom (dB) @ Apr 17th 2006 6:57AM]

Sometimes I think the commenters on engadget posts are extremely thick. This isn't a final product. And certainly the aviation industry will snap this up in a moment. If a plane is at a freezing airport they have to spray the entire plane in de-icer before it can take off or it will crash. How much easier it would be if the plane de-iced itself.

[Tim UF @ Apr 17th 2006 11:57AM]

this isnt all that new, ive read about and saw these moviepics 3 or 4 years ago while researching something i cant remember while at UF

(it was in the zook years, so there wasnt much to be excited about football wise, and before Noah/horford/brewer got there too).

anyway, i agree with the comment that this application would be great anywhere that ice accumulating is dangerous, planes, shuttles, windshields, etc

[Terry @ Apr 18th 2006 4:13PM]

#4 a table cloth right? LOL