The icebreaking science
A team of researchers from the Center for Sensors and Devices and the University of Trento has created surfaces that delay ice formation by expelling water droplets before they freeze. This research stems from a joint PhD program between the University of Trento and the Fondazione Bruno Kessler, with funding from both entities. The team includes Nicolò Giuseppe Di Novo (PhD) and Nicola Pugno from the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Mechanical Engineering (Dicam), along with Alvise Bagolini from FBK’s Center for Sensors and Devices, Micro Systems Technology unit.
The study on the dynamics of self-ejection was published in ACS NANO as “Single condensation droplet self-ejection from divergent structures with uniform wettability“, while the study on the anti-frosting on Advanced Materials Interfaces was published as “Ice-Bridging Frustration by Self-Ejection of Single Droplets Results in Superior Anti-Frosting Surfaces“. Both articles were featured on the cover of the journals and open up new horizons for applications in the field of aeronautics and thermodynamic systems.