eprintid: 10205951 rev_number: 6 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/20/59/51 datestamp: 2025-03-12 11:30:55 lastmod: 2025-03-12 11:30:55 status_changed: 2025-03-12 11:30:55 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Carolan, Julian creators_name: Jakubec, Martin creators_name: Xavier Jr, Neubi F creators_name: Motala, Adam Pestana creators_name: Bifulco, Ersilia creators_name: Aars, Jon creators_name: Andersen, Magnus creators_name: Schmidt, Anne Lisbeth creators_name: Cabre, Marc Brunet creators_name: Singh, Vikaramjeet creators_name: Colavita, Paula E creators_name: Selfors, Espen Werdal creators_name: Sacchi, Marco creators_name: O'Reilly, Shane creators_name: Halskau, Oyvind creators_name: Tiwari, Manish K creators_name: Hobbs, Richard G creators_name: Holst, Bodil title: Anti-icing properties of polar bear fur ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B04 divisions: F45 note: Copyright © 2025 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited. abstract: The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the only Arctic land mammal that dives into water to hunt. Despite thermal insulation provided by blubber and fur layers and low Arctic temperatures, their fur is typically observed to be free of ice. This study investigates the anti-icing properties of polar bear fur. Here, we show that polar bear fur exhibits low ice adhesion strengths comparable to fluorocarbon-coated fibers, with the low ice adhesion a consequence of the fur sebum (hair grease). Lipid analyses reveal the presence of cholesterol, diacylglycerols, anteisomethylbranched fatty acids, and the unexpected absence of squalene. Quantum chemical calculations predict low ice adsorption energies for identified lipids and high adsorption for squalene, suggesting that sebum composition is responsible for the observed anti-icing properties. Our work enhances understanding of polar bears and their interactions with their environment and builds on Inuit knowledge of natural anti-icing materials. date: 2025-01-29 date_type: published publisher: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE official_url: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads7321 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2357084 doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ads7321 medium: Print-Electronic lyricists_name: Tiwari, Manish lyricists_name: Singh, Vikaramjeet lyricists_id: MKTIW24 lyricists_id: VSING97 actors_name: Singh, Vikaramjeet actors_id: VSING97 actors_role: owner funding_acknowledgements: [EPSRC]; 1 8/EPSRC- CDT/3581 [SFI Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Characterisation of Materials Grant]; [AMBER]; [University of Bergen Polar Network]; [University of Bergen Idea Program]; 226244/F50 [RCN infrastructure grant]; 12/RC/2278_2 [Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) through the Advanced Materials and Bioengineering Research Center (AMBER)]; 15/RS-URF/3306 [Royal Society- Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellowship]; 17/RS-EA/3466 [Royal Society- Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellowship]; 21/RS-URF-R/3773 [Royal Society- Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellowship] full_text_status: public publication: Science Advances volume: 11 number: 5 article_number: eads7321 pages: 13 event_location: United States issn: 2375-2548 citation: Carolan, Julian; Jakubec, Martin; Xavier Jr, Neubi F; Motala, Adam Pestana; Bifulco, Ersilia; Aars, Jon; Andersen, Magnus; ... Holst, Bodil; + view all <#> Carolan, Julian; Jakubec, Martin; Xavier Jr, Neubi F; Motala, Adam Pestana; Bifulco, Ersilia; Aars, Jon; Andersen, Magnus; Schmidt, Anne Lisbeth; Cabre, Marc Brunet; Singh, Vikaramjeet; Colavita, Paula E; Selfors, Espen Werdal; Sacchi, Marco; O'Reilly, Shane; Halskau, Oyvind; Tiwari, Manish K; Hobbs, Richard G; Holst, Bodil; - view fewer <#> (2025) Anti-icing properties of polar bear fur. Science Advances , 11 (5) , Article eads7321. 10.1126/sciadv.ads7321 <https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ads7321>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205951/1/sciadv.ads7321%20%281%29.pdf