Preparation of a Superhydrophobic Coating on Carbon Fiber Board and Study of Its Dust Resistance and Anti-icing Properties

To address the poor water resistance and dust susceptibility of carbon fiber board, a simple and efficient spraying method was used to prepare a superhydrophobic coating on the carbon fiber board that was resistant to dust and ice. First, a hydrolyzed solution of KH550 was applied and cured to the carbon fiber board. Then, a solution was prepared by mixing silicone rubber (XC-107) with γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) in ethyl acetate. This solution was divided into three glass beakers. The first beaker kept the original solution unchanged. Nanometer silica (Nano-SiO2) was introduced into the solution in the second glass beaker, while ethyl acetate was added to dilute the solution in the third glass beaker. Finally, the prepared solutions were sequentially sprayed onto the surface of the carbon fiber board according to the order of the glass beakers. The results indicate that the dust removal efficiency of the superhydrophobic carbon fiber board reaches 98.36%, which is an improvement of 9.45% compared to ordinary carbon fiber board, with a water contact angle (WCA) of 158°. Meanwhile, in the anti-icing test, the icing time of the superhydrophobic carbon fiber board is delayed by more than four times compared to ordinary carbon fiber board. Compared to other similar superhydrophobic carbon fiber boards, this superhydrophobic carbon fiber board features a simple and efficient preparation method, is easy to produce on a large scale, has low cost, uses commonly available materials, and offers strong scalability while possessing characteristics such as dust resistance, anti-icing, abrasion resistance, and sandstorm resistance. This indicates that the superhydrophobic carbon fiber board can be used in many different fields, such as structural components of aircraft and spacecraft, body and interior parts of vehicles, bicycle frames, badminton and tennis rackets, bridges, medical devices, enclosures, and components for electronic products, bulletproof armor, drones, and more.