Bilayer Coating Reduces Ice Adhesion on Hydraulic Dams
The 2026 material uses a stable hydration layer to maintain anti-icing performance where current lubricants fail.
Updated on Oct. 26, 2026 in Materials Science
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Researchers published a study in 2026 describing a novel bilayer polyurethane-urea coating designed for hydraulic dams. This research-stage material uses a hydration layer to minimize ice adhesion at extreme temperatures.
Why it matters
Conventional anti-icing surfaces often lose effectiveness due to lubricant depletion in humid environments. This bilayer design maintains structural integrity and ice-phobicity under harsh conditions.
The coating maintains an ice shear strength of 2 kPa at -20 °C and 11 kPa at -40 °C. Following abrasion and UV ageing tests, the material remained stable below 10 kPa.
The details
The bilayer system consists of a base layer formed from polyaspartic ester, polycaprolactone triol, HDI trimer, and an NCO-terminated prepolymer. A hydrophilic surface layer is created by grafting and crosslinking polymers including MPEG, PEG, and glycerol, which form ridge-like bulges. These structures host an unfrozen bound water interface, a thin layer of water molecules that remain liquid even in freezing conditions to prevent ice from bonding to the surface.
Timeline
The research findings were published in the journal Progress in Organic Coatings in 2026.
The Tech Race
This research follows a broader trend in materials science to replace sacrificial liquid lubricants with surface-anchored hydrophilic polymers. It specifically improves upon previous-generation ice-phobic coatings that suffer from degradation in high-humidity settings.
This material is currently in the research stage and not yet available for commercial infrastructure projects. Future field trials will determine how the coating performs under actual operational conditions for hydraulic operators.
The takeaway
The study demonstrates a promising path toward durable, non-depleting anti-icing surfaces for infrastructure exposed to sub-zero temperatures. Watch for subsequent papers detailing real-world longevity testing or pilot installations on active hydraulic gates.
Further reading
Explore the latest developments in material design at Materials Science.
Source note: This article includes information reported by European Coatings.
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