Study on preparation and performance of anti-icing superhydrophobic coating on composite insulators
Maintaining anti-icing properties of isolators on overhead lines is critical for performance and safety. This study presents a superhydrophobic coating based on two resins and special fillers to create the necessary structure.
Composite insulators are primarily used in overhead lines, where they increase the creepage distance, support the conductors and prevent the current from flowing back to earth, but the problems of ice formation and dirt to which composite insulators are exposed on overhead lines significantly impair the regular operation of these components.
Maintaining the superhydrophobicity of composite insulators remains a major challenge. In the present work, the superhydrophobic coating was produced using the air-spray method, with epoxy resin and silicone resin as binders and doping with micrometre-sised aluminium oxide and n-dodecylmercaptan-modified nanometre-sised zinc oxide particles.
The rough structure formed by the micro-nanoparticles leads to the formation of an air cushion, which is a decisive factor in achieving superhydrophobicity. Remarkably, the produced superhydrophobic coating delays the icing time of water droplets to 4200 s and the water contact angle is more than 150°. In addition, the superhydrophobic coatings exhibit good mechanical and electrical resistance, which is due to the mixture of two types of binders, and due to these excellent properties, the superhydrophobic coatings produced have great potential for new products.
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