448 / 2022-03-15 22:40:54

Investigation on the Anti-icing performance of superhydrophobic silicone rubber

superhydrophobic,silicone rubber,anti-icing,insulator

Purpose/Aim

Insulator is an important component in the power system, which plays a vital role in electrical insulation and mechanical support. Silicone rubber, due to its excellent hydrophobicity, has become the main material of shied and housing of composite insulator. In recent years, the research on superhydrophobic materials provides new insight in the performance improvement of composite insulator. However, some influencing factors still deserve attention during the operation of insulators, such as the surface icing and the resulting performance degradation, which can be a potential threaten to the power system.

Experimental/Modeling methods

Surface coating was applied to prepare superhydrophobic silicone rubber, and a cooling stage which can be set as low as -20 ℃ was used to conduct the icing experiment. By comparing the performance of pristine silicone rubber and superhydrophobic silicone rubber in the whole process of icing and de-icing, the characteristics of superhydrophobic silicone rubber in anti-icing are analyzed.

Results/discussion

The superhydrophobic silicone rubber can delay the icing time and reduce the adhesion of ice, which show a better performance of an-icing than pristine silicone. The reason for the anti-icing performance is the abundant micro-nano structure on the superhydrophobic surface, which greatly reduce the contact area between the surface and sessile droplet, which hinder the heat transfer from cold materials to droplets. Simultaneously, the hierarchical structure can also account for the low adhesion force of frozen droplets on the substrate.

Conclusions

Superhydrophobic silicone rubber has an excellent anti-icing property, the extended icing time and low ice adhesion force can greatly inhibit damage brought by the ice disaster. However, the durability of superhydrophobic materials after cycles of icing and de-icing process is still a problem to be solved.