Ice formation on surfaces of various devices and installations is a problem in industrial sectors with a great economic and social impact such as renewable energy generation, transport or industrial refrigeration production. This project will develop a new generation of active anti-ice smart surfaces, with minimal energy consumption and that can be directly applicable to materials of industrial interest such as metal alloys, polymeric materials and composites. The project is based on a completely original approach that seeks to develop an automatic ice detection and removal system based on the application of surface acoustic waves in the megahertz range. These waves will allow both the detection of ice formation and its efficient removal and will be generated on the surface itself thanks to a system of micrometric electrodes and the action of thin piezoelectric sheets. SOUNDofICE is a highly multidisciplinary project, involving specialists from atomic-scale modelling and simulation to engineers working in off-shore wind energy. CSIC researchers will be responsible for the design and manufacture of intelligent ice detection and removal systems and their optimisation to make them compatible with different types of materials and surfaces. Two CSIC centres are working on the project: the Institute of Materials Science of Seville, which acts as project coordinator, and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Materials of Aragon. These two groups are complemented by researchers from the Universities of Seville and Zaragoza, respectively. The other participating academic entities are: the Esteban Terradas National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA, Spain), Technology Partners (Warsaw, Poland), the University of Tampere (Finland), and the SAWLab Saxony within the IFW in Dresden (Germany). The consortium also includes two companies from the aeronautical and wind energy sectors: Villinger GmbH (Austria) and the Spanish company EnerOcean S.L. These companies will be in charge of validating this new technology.

The problem of ice formation on surfaces is an old enemy of our society and is all too often the cause of extremely catastrophic events such as crop failure, isolation of homes and towns, power grid failure, numerous accidents in the transport of goods and people, and loss of efficiency in processes of industrial and energy relevance. It is in the practical setting of these last two areas that the project is formulated, and where we expect a greater direct impact of its project results. In fact, this idea was born from our work on a previous project in which European and Canadian researchers formed a consortium together with the major aeronautical construction companies in these regions, to develop water-repellent surfaces capable of delaying or preventing the formation of ice. For this industry, ice formation on the surface of aircraft on the ground or in the air creates serious problems, such as the malfunction of critical sensors and the change in the aerodynamics of the aircraft, causing huge economic losses due to delays and flight stoppages or, in the worst case, being the direct cause of accidents.
SOUNDofICE has been funded by a European Union FET-Open programme focused on the demonstration of high-risk ideas that can lead to a change in the current paradigm within a specialty or a radical improvement of real processes. The project will contribute to laying the foundations for a new technology by supporting the training of young researchers, as well as technologists and engineers who are experts in the field. In the medium term, it is expected to have a high impact on safety and functionality in aeronautics and wind energy, with the collaboration of several leading international companies in these areas, which will act as external advisors to the project.