Accidents on frozen roads in cold climates are a serious problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), ice falls cause 648,000 deaths a year, and 38 million people injured. In terms of treatment and insurance, total costs amount to 100,000 million dollars a year.
Conventional non -slip technology is based on the idea of using hydrophobic materials that do not absorb water, such as rubber, to repel the water film on the ice and maintain friction. However, these technologies are wearing over time, reducing their effectiveness; In addition, they have the inconvenience that the pressure melts the surface of the icy road. The ice surfaces wet by the thaw become extremely slippery when covered by a liquid layer of nanometric thickness.
Inspired by the structure of the Gecko’s legs, a reptile of between 1.6 and 60 centimeters, A group of American researchers developed a new polymer that absorbs the surface of the ice attracting moisture. If it is used in practice as non -slip material for shoe soles, the number of accidents due to falls on frozen surfaces could drastically reduce.
The GECKO and its natural soles
The fingertips of the GECKOS have an organ called “subdigital sheet”, whose surface covered with numerous sows of the micrometers. According to a team of researchers from the American Society of Chemistry, the capillarity; The physical phenomenon by which the liquid found inside a thin tube moves without the need for external energy, That makes the water introduce into the microscopic grooves between these sows, allows the gecko to remain stable on slippery surfaces.
To reproduce the structure that creates adhesion in the gecko, the researchers They added circonium nanoparticles to the silicone rubber, which also attracts water molecules. The team stretched the material to form a fine movie, then healed with a term treatment and cut with groove in the surface to expose the hydrophilic nanoparticles of zirconium. When the film comes into contact with the ice water molecules, a capillary action is produced, similar to the lego leg, which absorbs them to the surface.
According to the researchers, the capillary action occurred in 1.5 milliseconds and a maximum friction coefficient of 3.46 was recorded, even on humid ice. They also compared the yield of five different materials manufactured with zirconium particles of 1%, 3%, 5%, 7%and 9%by weight, and discovered that the non -slip effect was greater when added in a proportion of 3%and 5%. Most non -slip shoes used in kitchens or other workplaces have a friction coefficient between 1 and 1.5.
However, this figure descends significantly on ice. Metal crampons, which are fixed to the soles of the ice shoes, also have an ice friction coefficient from 1.5 to 2.0. In addition, it is estimated that the ice friction coefficient of standard tires without nails is between 0.2 and approximately 0.4. This figure descends to less than 0.1 in the case of normal tires. Although the friction coefficients of shoes and tires cannot be compared due to the different measurement and surface conditions, the non -slip effect of the new polymer is evident.
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The frozen rocks that make up Oort’s cloud could be modified by the galactic tide and grouped into a spiral structure, finds a simulation.
We are facing a new non -slip technology
Researchers believe that the imitation of the properties of living organisms could not only lead to the development of safe shoes that avoid falls in cold climates, but also could be applied in the fields of medicine and electronics. For example, polymers used in artificial and electronic skin need to interact with the liquid layer between two different surfaces. In this type of applications, new polymers with hydrophilic properties could help control fluids.
Article originally published in Wired Japan. Adapted by Alondra Flores.
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