New research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and GE, both in the United States, shows that the use of a super-hydrophobic coating as a solution to the problem of ice build-up on surfaces such as airplane wings, won’t work, but the researchers suggest an alternative that should. Currently, the problem of ice build-up is prevented by using deicing materials that are sprinkled or sprayed on a surface, or by activating heating coils embedded in the surface material, but the deicing chemicals can be toxic, and the heating coils waste energy. Researchers have been looking for a better way to handle the problem – ideally through a passive method that requires no ongoing input of energy or work – and the big question has been whether or not a super-hydrophobic surface could do the trick. The MIT and GE researchers discovered that the reason such a coating won’t work is due to the formation of frost on the surface, which would completely defeat the water-repelling properties, and, could actually promote ice formation. What the researchers did find was that certain kinds of complex nanoscale texturing of the surface can drastically improve the hydrophobic qualities, even on a moving surface, by preventing the forming droplets from finding a suitable flat surface to stick to. Future research will examine how to get the size and configuration of these textures exactly right.