Pros and Cons...
Runoff from the James Richardon Armstrong International Airport in Winnepeg.
This image shows major components of a roll-to-roll type UV nanoimprinting machine.
All innovations have positive and negative consequences and our innovation is no different.
The positive consequences are as follows:
-
A nanoimprinted super-hydrophobic surface will make flying safer as ice and snow will no longer build-up on a plane’s exterior.
-
This innovation is environmentally friendly. Anti-freeze liquids used for deicing run-off into land and water around airports impacting plant and animal life.
-
There will be less flight delays. Snow and ice build-up on airplanes results in delays in departures and flight cancellations.
-
Super-hydrophobic surfaces repel dirt, making planes self-cleaning.
There are two negative consequences our team has identified.
-
The imprinting process onto the materials used to build airplane exteriors will be expensive.
-
There is no evidence as to how long the pattern will last on plane exteriors before it wears out due to normal ‘wear and tear’ and the impact of high-altitude flight on the pattern.