As compared to the slow-moving 'sailing stones' of Death Valley, Boreyko's surfaces can propel ice much faster, making them the 'fastest ice on Earth.'
A fascinating aspect of nature-inspired engineering is that even simple observations can lead to remarkable discoveries.A simple observation in a Virginia Tech lab of Professor Jonathan Boreyko has led to a major discovery: a specially designed surface can make a melting ice disc launch itself forward.
The team watched a disc of ice on a metal plate. Initially, as the ice melted and formed a puddle, it stubbornly adhered to the surface. After a minute of seeming inactivity, the melting ice suddenly shot across the surface as if propelled by an invisible force.The team’s findings have many potential applications, particularly in rapid defrosting and new energy harvest methods.Inspired by natural mysteryThe research team found inspiration in a natural mystery at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. At this place, watermelon-sized boulders leave long tracks as they move independently. The reason for this strange phenomenon remained unknown for a long time because the ground is flat and the rocks are often level.In 2014, Professor Richard Norris at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography finally unravelled this mystery of the “sailing stones,” revealing that they weren’t moved by “supernatural forces.” The study revealed that a unique combination of rain, hard ground, ice formation, and wind caused the rocks to move.The rocks were propelled by ice rafts that formed on the ground after rain.Rainfall would pool on the impermeable ground. The hard ground prevented the water from being absorbed, so when temperatures dropped, it froze. As the ice later melted, the resulting ice rafts drifted in the wind, pushing the rocks along.While Norris solved a natural riddle, Boreyko’s team aimed to go further. Inspired by this phenomenon, the team applied the same principles to create a surface that could propel melting ice without external forces like wind.In this experiment, the team created asymmetric, arrowhead-shaped grooves etched with a herringbone pattern on aluminum plates to control the direction of the meltwater flow.“This directional flow of meltwater carried the ice disk along with it. A good analogy is tubing on a river except here, the directional channels cause the flow instead of gravity,” said Ph.D. student Jack Tapocik.Beneficial for energy harvestingHowever, a truly unexpected discovery occurred when the researchers experimented with coating these grooved plates with a water-repellent spray.Instead of the expected faster movement, the ice disk stuck firmly to the surface. This surprising outcome paved the way for the “slingshot effect.”The melting ice disc sticks to the ridges on a waterproof surface because excess water is squeezed. Although the meltwater continues to flow through the channels, the ice can no longer glide on top of it.“The fun trick here is that as the meltwater flows beyond the front edge of the ice disk, it creates a puddle. Having a flat puddle on one side of the ice creates a mismatch in surface tension, which dislodges the ice and causes it to shoot across the surface,” Boreyko explained. As compared to the slow-moving “sailing stones” of Death Valley, Boreyko’s surfaces can propel ice much faster, making them the “fastest ice on Earth.”Boreyko sees this unique propulsion as a potential method for energy harvesting. Reportedly, the authors believe this effect could also be used for anti-icing systems, self-cleaning surfaces, and power-free microfluidic transport.Their work has now been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Energy &Amp Environment Energy Harvesting Jonathan Boreyko Physics Racetrack Playa Rapid Defrosting Sailling Stones Viginia Tech
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