Anti-Ice

The formation and strong adhesion of ice to a wide variety of surfaces is a common problem in many areas of everyday life. Examples include tent roofs and structural textile elements (architectural, construction and automotive) that can collapse under ice and snow loads, or truck tarps that lose their ice loads on the highway. But also the field of outdoor clothing (alpinism- ski clothing and accessories) will be equipped more weatherproof by a water and ice repellent coating. The aim of this project is to develop a new, efficient, environmentally friendly, ice-repellent coating technology, which can be easily adapted to the respective material requirements. This should show German SMEs new ways to functionalize different fabric materials (polyester, polyamide, polyurethanes), which will result in a strengthening of the German textile industry. Initially, we will focus on large-area textiles such as tents, sails (construction sector), convertible roofs and truck tarpaulins (automotive). If necessary, an expansion into the apparel sector will follow at a later stage. In this way, a wide variety of market fields can be generated or acquired by SMEs along the value chain, which will strengthen Germany as an industrial location as a whole. In addition, the system we develop will be biocompatible (biologically compatible monomer building blocks) and not based on fluorinated substances. This will not only drastically reduce costs in the area of production or quality management, but also ensure long-term compliance with the new and much stricter REACH guidelines. By integrating competent companies into the project committee, the aspects of recycling and sustainability are also taken into account.

Project Management: German Federation of Industrial Research Associations (AiF)

Funding reference number: IGF Research Project 21728 N