Yeadon Kate, Lai Edward P C, Song Naiheng, Huang Xiao
Department of Chemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada.
Aerospace Research Centre, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, Canada.
Langmuir. 2023 Dec 12;39(49):17644-17652. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c01928. Epub 2023 Nov 27.
Icing and ice accretion on aerodynamically critical surfaces of an aircraft increase drag, reduce lift, and raise stalling speed, which pose significant safety hazards to aircraft while in flight. Icephobic coatings have been intensively investigated by the Canadian and global aerospace industries for passive ice protection. Nevertheless, effective icephobic coatings suitable for aerospace applications are far from ideal. Ice protection of an aircraft still relies on active ice protection systems based on heating, mechanical expulsion, and deicing fluids, which are heavy-weight, power-intensive, and unfriendly to the environment. To address these challenges, rapid and accurate detection of icing is highly desirable to activate these ice protection systems only when needed. To this end, cyclic voltammetry was used for the first time to detect the initiation of icing on aircraft surfaces with or without icephobic coatings. In this study, a water droplet was sandwiched between a screen-printed electrode and a simulated aircraft surface. Cyclic voltammograms were then collected as the temperature was slowly decreased until the droplet froze to form ice. A sharp spike in faradaic current was recorded in the voltammograms during the phase transition, suggesting a switch in the mass transfer mechanism from diffusion to a surface-confined pathway. This electrochemical signal could then be used to precisely indicate the onset of icing. The developed sensing method shows potential in icing detection to manage active ice protections and ameliorate icing risks in the aerospace and aviation industries.
飞机空气动力学关键表面上的结冰和积冰会增加阻力、降低升力并提高失速速度，这在飞行过程中对飞机构成重大安全隐患。加拿大和全球航空航天行业对疏冰涂层进行了深入研究，以实现被动防冰。然而，适用于航空航天应用的有效疏冰涂层远非理想。飞机的防冰仍依赖基于加热、机械除冰和除冰液的主动防冰系统，这些系统重量大、能耗高且对环境不友好。为应对这些挑战，非常需要快速准确地检测结冰情况，以便仅在需要时启动这些防冰系统。为此，首次使用循环伏安法检测有无疏冰涂层的飞机表面上结冰的起始情况。在本研究中，将一个水滴夹在丝网印刷电极和模拟飞机表面之间。然后在温度缓慢降低直至水滴冻结形成冰的过程中收集循环伏安图。在相变过程中，伏安图中记录到法拉第电流出现急剧尖峰，这表明传质机制从扩散转变为表面受限途径。然后，这种电化学信号可用于精确指示结冰的开始。所开发的传感方法在结冰检测方面显示出潜力，可用于管理主动防冰并降低航空航天和航空工业中的结冰风险。
