Polar bear fur could be key to advances in anti-icing solutions

The international study found that a unique mix of lipids in the fur’s sebum – an oily substance produced by the skin - reduces ice adhesion. This natural design could help prevent ice buildup on infrastructure such as frozen wind turbine blades or aeroplane wings.

Key to this discovery are the advanced quantum chemical simulations carried out by Surrey University’s computational chemistry team, which investigated molecular interactions between the fur’s sebum and ice. The team’s findings are detailed in Science Advances.

In a statement, co-author and study lead Dr Marco Sacchi, an Associate Professor at Surrey’s School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, said: “We found that specific lipids in the sebum, such as cholesterol and diacylglycerols, exhibit very low adsorption energies on ice. This weak interaction is what prevents ice from adhering to the fur.”

Experiments confirmed these theoretical findings, measuring ice adhesion strength before and after the fur’s natural oils were removed. Researchers found that untreated polar bear fur performed on par with high-performance fluorocarbon coatings used in sports and industry. However, when it was washed to remove the sebum, ice adhesion was four times higher than unwashed samples.