A team from the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) has developed a patent-pending de-icing coating that prevents ice accumulation on the surface of airplanes.

To create the new de-icing coating, reportedly biofriendly and longer lasting than current de-icing solutions, the team based its recipe on current de-icing chemicals.

“We questioned the lifetime of the cryoprotectants and looked at new ways to increase their effectivity,” the researchers explained. “Glycols dissolve very fast in the water and get washed away before the plane takes off, and it’s a serious problem that costs hundreds of millions of dollars — most of which literally ends up in the drain. We thought, why not improve such chemicals themselves, and make alternatives that can last longer while being more biofriendly. And that is what we ended up doing.”

From this, the researchers developed a family of 80-plus anti-freezing coatings that can be applied to assorted surfaces including aluminum, glass, steel, copper, plastic or any industrial surfaces.

According to the company, the coating can delay the formation of frost on such surfaces for hours and can easily shed off any ice that does eventually accumulate thereafter.

Because the UIC coating lasts longer, the researchers suggest that its use on airplane wings could prevent the occurrence of chemical runoff, which pollutes freshwaters as what happens with current de-icing chemicals. While these chemicals de-ice the wings, once the plane takes flight, the chemicals disperse, running off to the ground or water below it, thereby leaving the wings vulnerable to re-icing.

Because the coating is transparent, the researchers suggest that it can also be applied to other surfaces including on traffic signals, runway lights at airports, vehicle windshields or building windows.

The article detailing the coating, titled “A family of frost-resistant and icephobic coatings,” appears in the journal Advanced Materials.