Ice accumulation on the surfaces of outdoor power facilities such as insulators poses severe challenges to energy infrastructure. These include degraded operational performance due to increased electrical resistance, elevated maintenance costs from frequent deicing operations, and heightened safety risks such as tower overloads or insulator flashovers. Such issues have made the development of advanced materials with excellent hydrophobicity and anti-icing properties increasingly crucial for ensuring reliable operation in cold and humid environments. The work aims to prepare superhydrophobic photothermal composite coatings with nanocone arrays via initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) technology combined with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/carbon nanotubes (CNT) nanocomposites, and investigate their hydrophobicity and anti-icing properties.
To achieve this, PDMS/CNT nanocomposite films are prepared by mixing CNTs with PDMS at different mass fractions, and then nanocone arrays are deposited on the surface of these composite films with the iCVD method. The coatings undergo comprehensive characterization to evaluate their properties: composition is analyzed via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, surface morphology is examined through scanning electron microscopy, and wettability is assessed through contact angle goniometry. Their anti-icing performance is evaluated by measuring key metrics including icing delay time, ice adhesion strength, and photothermal deicing efficiency under controlled low-temperature conditions. Additionally, the durability of the samples is assessed through freeze-thaw cycle tests, acid-base resistance tests, and water droplet impact tests.
The results demonstrate that the nanocomposite film prepared with a 2% mass fraction of CNTs mixed with PDMS exhibits exceptional photothermal effects, efficiently converting light energy into heat to prevent ice formation. The nanocone array coating deposited on this film surface achieves a static water contact angle of 151.8° and a sliding angle as low as 2°, showcasing excellent superhydrophobicity that minimizes water adhesion. This superior performance arises from the synergistic effect of the coating's micro-nano structure, which traps air to reduce liquid-solid contact, its low surface energy that repels water, and its photothermal material properties that actively melt incipient ice. Specifically, in an environment with a temperature of -15 ℃ and a humidity of 65%, the icing delay time of Si wafer treated with NC coating reaches 297 s, which is almost 30 times that of pristine Si wafer. The icing delay time of a PDMS/CNT composite film treated with NC (PC-3/NC) reaches 982 s, which is more than twice that of the PDMS/CNT composite film without NC coating. The ice adhesion strength of PC-3/NC is as low as 9.8 kPa, accounting for only 20% of that of the sample without the deposited NC coating. Moreover, after undergoing 20 freeze-thaw cycles, continuous water droplet impact, and prolonged acid/base exposure, the composite coating retains its superhydrophobicity and structural integrity, indicating good chemical stability and mechanical durability.
In conclusion, the sample prepared by one step deposition of nanocone array coating on PDMS CNT nanocomposites with iCVD exhibits excellent hydrophobicity, efficient photothermal effect, and superior anti-icing performance. These findings highlight the great application potential of the synthesized coatings in anti-icing applications on the surfaces of various outdoor power facilities, including insulators, transmission lines, and wind turbine blades, offering a promising solution to mitigate ice-related operational challenges in energy infrastructure.
Key words
anti-icing /
iCVD /
photothermal ice melting /
superhydrophobic surface /
insulator
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Funding
State Grid Double Innovation Incubation and Cultivation Fund Project (B711JZ24000J)
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