Graphene-enhanced, wear-resistant, and thermal-conductive, anti-/de-icing gelcoat composite coating

Abstract Wind power is considered as a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy source. However, the occurrence of icing poses significant challenges to energy production, particularly in frigid regions during the winter season. Conventional strategies employed for preventing and removing ice formation have proven inadequate due to their inability to satisfy intricate requirements or their high energy consumption. In this study, a commercial gelcoat coating was adopted as an anti-/de-icing coating by introducing different concentrations of graphene and boron nitride into the gelcoat coating through physical mixing. Extensive investigations were conducted on the correlation between anti-/de-icing, wear resistance, and thermal conductivity. Notably, the incorporation of nanoparticles induced a rise in the surface roughness, resulting in prolonged resistance to water icing on the coated surface. The wear resistance and thermal conductivity of the composite coating were enhanced through the inclusion of boron nitride and graphene. The building of thermal conductive particle networks improved thermal conductivity which can lead to improved heat transfer and heat distribution. At the same time, the enhanced gelcoat composite coating exhibited exceptional passive anti-/de-icing performance and wear resistance. This coating can replace commercial coatings to improve anti-/de-icing efficiency for the existing active heating anti-/de-icing techniques available in the market. Graphical Abstract The graphene was employed to enhance the thermal conductivity, wear resistance, and anti-/de-icing properties of the turbine coating.