Preparation and performance of anti-icing and deicing PF-POS@SiO2/CB photothermal superhydrophobic coatings for electrical insulators

Insulator string icing can cause flashovers or even blackouts in transmission systems and the existing mature deicing methods are usually costly or time consuming. So, in this research PF-POS@SiO2/CB superhydrophobic coatings (SiO2/CB-0, SiO2/CB-10, SiO2/CB-20, SiO2/CB-30, SiO2/CB-40 and SiO2/CB-50) with photothermal deicing and passive anti-icing properties were designed and prepared on the surface of two types of insulator materials (glass and ceramic) by using a simple spraying method. Then, the wettability properties, photothermal properties, and anti-icing/deicing properties of the coatings with the addition of different amounts of SiO2/CB were evaluated. PF-POS@SiO2/CB coatings with no less than 30 wt% of CB (carbon black) content simultaneously exhibit excellent passive anti-icing and deicing performance. For SiO2/CB-30, the water contact angle is as high as 164.9° and the rolling angle is as low as 3° because the combination of silica and carbon black nanoparticles gives the coating a micro/nanostructure and the low surface energy of 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane leads to superhydrophobic properties, and the equilibrium temperature of the coating is up to 71.1 °C at 1 solar irradiation because of the photothermal effect of carbon black. The results of the analysis of anti-icing/deicing properties of the coatings to evaluate their potential for engineering applications demonstrate that it takes longer time for ice to form on the coated surface than on a substrate without coating, and the ice completely melts under sunlight after 10 min and falls off automatically by its weight for the addition of 30 wt% carbon black and above, showing excellent deicing performance. Both types of substrates show excellent adhesion with the superhydrophobic coating, which can be classified as class 1 based on the paint and varnish-cross-section test method, and the ceramic material exhibits better adhesion than the glass.