A superhydrophobic/photothermal synergistic anti-icing mesh with active/passive anti-icing function

Abstract The ice covering of transmission lines tends to cause flashover along the surface, and even topple the tower in serious cases, which seriously threatens the safe operation of the power grid. Here, a dual active and passive anti-icing strategy was designed. The active deicing was achieved by photothermal effect, and passive anti-icing was based on superhydrophobicity. On the one hand, the semi-embedded candle ash gives the surface excellent photothermal characteristics, which can quickly melt the ice through sunlight; On the other hand, the superhydrophobic coating based on candle ash demonstrates excellent passive anti-icing performance, which reduces ice adhesion as small as 3.0 kPa and delayed freezing time as long as 1096 s. Furthermore, the semi-embedded structure enables the superhydrophobic coating excellent anti-abrasion ability and outstanding self-cleaning property. This combination of active and passive anti-icing strategies provides a reference for the current anti-icing and deicing methods of transmission lines.