Life in Canada comes with the icy perils of winter, where slick sidewalks can lead to serious injuries.
But getting a grip might soon be a bit easier thanks to slip-resistant rubber being developed by Toronto researchers.
In a paper published in the journal Applied Physics Letters on Tuesday, the team described a process for mass-producing rubber with tiny glass fibres designed to stick to the ground.
Reza Rizvi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, said the extra friction on the bottom of a boot could be especially useful to those who might have trouble recovering from a fall.
"I think anyone who has slipped or fallen on ice can testify that it is a painful or nerve-racking experience," Rizvi said in a statement. "Now imagine being frail or disabled -- a slippery sidewalk or a driveway is all that it takes to trigger a life-changing fall."
Tilak Dutta, another member of the research team, said slip-resistant footwear could also change the lives of people who are unable to safely leave their house during the winter.
“The lack of activity and isolation have major negative impacts on health,” Dutta said. “We need to give older adults better footwear so they feel confident maintaining their outdoor activity levels in the winter."
Digging into the science
Rizvi explained that a thin, lubricating layer of water tends to form on ice when temperatures approach zero degrees Celsius, making the surface dangerous to step on.
One solution right now is cleated footwear, which creates stability by digging into the ice, he said. But the problem is that the hard studs become almost as dangerous when worn on dry, hard surfaces.
To tackle this, the team focused on a type of rubber that can dig into the ice on a microscopic scale. Their thermoplastic polyurethane is embedded with tens of thousands of glass fibres that bite into the ice like tiny teeth.
The material also acts like regular rubber on normal, dry surfaces, Rizvi added.
Boots on the ground
Though the sandpaper-like rubber itself isn’t a new creation, the Toronto team has found a way to cheaply mass-produce the material. Their hope is that it will eventually be commercially available to those who need the extra grip.
"I am most excited about taking my research and having it applied to a serious societal issue of winter safety," Rizvi said.
The group said the rubber isn’t yet durable enough to sustain long-term use, as the slip-resistant properties fade with wear.
But in the future, with further work done on the rubber’s toughness, Dutta said the group’s work could put some spring in the steps of those most slowed down by winter.
"This work has the potential to have a real impact on the massive, expensive public health problem of winter falls," Dutta said. “Not to mention the dramatic improvement in quality of life for those living in northern climates.”
