Yuan Yuan

Ice accretion on critical infrastructure threatens operational safety and energy efficiency, necessitating durable anti‐icing coatings. While slippery liquid‐infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) exhibit low ice adhesion, lubricant depletion compromises their durability. Crosslinked polymer networks improve longevity, yet the low modulus of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) induces structural fatigue. To reconcile liquid storage, icephobic performance and mechanical robustness, this study integrates polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) as rigid skeletal nodes within a silicone elastomer matrix. Direct hydrosilylation achieves a 5 wt.% POSS loading limit; subsequent tetrafunctional siloxane modification increases this to 7.5 wt.% through enhanced compatibility and crosslinking density. This optimized network enables homogeneous nanodomain dispersion, doubled liquid loading, and enhanced storage stability via a solid‐phase liquid storage–liquid‐phase lubrication–interfacial self‐replenishment ternary mechanism. The composite exhibits initial ice adhesion < 2 kPa, freezing delay of 765 s at −20°C, ice nucleation temperature of −21°C, recalescence time of 180 s, and < 20 kPa adhesion after 450 cycles, alongside a dielectric constant of 2.5. Rigorous durability tests confirm < 20 kPa adhesion, with broad substrate compatibility, self‐cleaning, and anti‐condensation functionality. This strategy effectively balances liquid storage capacity with mechanical robustness for scalable anti‐icing applications.

Enhancing the current ampacity of overhead transmission conductors not only contributes to operational safety but also facilitates greater power delivery and energy conservation. A cost-effective approach to improving conductor heat dissipation and boosting its capacity involves applying a surface layer with high infrared emissivity. The designed nanoporous architecture was fabricated on aluminum conductors through an anodization process. The influence of both untreated and superhydrophobically modified nanoporous structures on temperature rise behavior and emissivity was examined systematically. Relative to bare aluminum conductors, the untreated and modified nanoporous conductors achieved ampacity gains of 10.2% and 13.8%, respectively. Based on the calculation formula, the power transmission losses of FAS-AAO conductors are 2.38% lower than those of bare conductors. Consequently, the as-prepared nanoporous aluminum conductors exhibit outstanding heat dissipation performance and considerable potential for upgrading the capacity and reducing power transmission losses of transmission lines.

Increasing the ampacity of transmission lines can ensure safe operation while simultaneously achieving higher transmission capacity and energy-saving goals. Using a high-infrared-emissivity surface is an effective approach to enhancing the heat-dissipation performance of conductors and enabling low-cost capacity upgrades. In this study, a nanoporous structure was constructed on the surface of aluminum conductors by anodization. The influences of different pore diameters and pore depths on the infrared emissivity and current-induced temperature rise characteristics were systematically compared, and the optimal structure was fabricated on aluminum stranded conductors for performance validation. The results show that the nanoporous aluminum stranded conductor with a pore diameter of approximately 100 nm and a pore depth of approximately 30 μm achieves the highest ampacity, with a 26.6% increase compared with the bare aluminum stranded conductor. The improvement can be attributed to (1) enhancing thermal emissivity to strengthen radiative cooling, and (2) increasing the effective surface area to promote convective heat transfer. Therefore, the as-prepared nanoporous aluminum stranded conductor exhibits excellent heat dissipation performance and demonstrates promising application potential in the capacity upgrading of transmission conductors.

Enhancing the ampacity of existing overhead transmission conductors through surface heat-dissipation regulation is important for grid capacity expansion. Herein, a superhydrophobic radiative heat-dissipating conductor was fabricated by combining phosphoric acid anodization with low-surface-energy modification. Porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) layers were in situ constructed on ACSR conductors under different anodizing current densities and oxidation times, followed by modification with hexadecyltrimethoxysilane or 1H,1H,2H,2H-perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane to obtain H-AAO and F-AAO conductors, respectively. The surface morphology, optical properties, wettability, electrical resistance, current-induced temperature rise, and aging stability were systematically evaluated. The porous AAO layer enhanced the broadband infrared emissivity of the conductor surface while maintaining relatively high solar-band reflectance. The F-AAO conductor exhibited a water contact angle of 164.9° and a sliding angle of 1.8°, confirming excellent super-hydrophobicity. At 450 A, the steady-state temperature of the F-AAO conductor decreased from 106.85 °C for the Bare conductor to 75.34 °C. Under a 70 °C temperature limit, the allowable current increased from 343.58 to 431.57 A, corresponding to a 25.6% enhancement. Moreover, the F-AAO conductor retained stable heat-dissipation performance after 28 days of thermal aging. These findings demonstrate that anodization-assisted surface engineering is a feasible strategy for improving radiative heat dissipation, environmental adaptability, and current-carrying performance of overhead transmission conductors.

This work describes the preparation of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)/SiO₂ (silicon dioxide)–ER (epoxy resin)/FR (fluorosilicone resin) superhydrophobic coatings using the spray method to improve the anti-icing and de-icing performance of transmission line insulators. The coatings exhibit a consistent fluorine distribution (32.86 wt%), which enhances their low surface energy, alongside SiO₂ nanoparticles that occupy the interstices between PTFE particles, resulting in a dense micro- and nanoscale hierarchical structure. Consequently, the coatings have good superhydrophobicity, featuring a contact angle of 173.9° and roll angle of 1.2°. Following 66 days of UV irradiation, the contact angle remains above 150°, and the roll angle is approximately 15°, accompanied by a slight increase in ice adhesion strength. Following 26 freeze–thaw cycles, the contact angle stabilizes at around 157°, showing good environmental durability. Natural icing studies validate the coatings’ good anti-icing and de-icing efficacy: in comparison to common insulators, the coated insulators demonstrate a 14.2% reduction in ice accretion weight and a 67.7% reduction in maximum ice ridge length.

The fabrication of porous anodic alumina (PAA) films under high current density often introduces defects. While alcohol additives improve film quality, the lack of mechanistic understanding hinders precise microstructural control. In this work, PAA films were fabricated in a phosphoric acid electrolyte with ethylene glycol (EG) under a high current density, and the oxide growth-dissolution process was systematically investigated to elucidate how EG modulates the PAA film structure. The addition of EG quantitatively modulated the film’s microstructure, with an increasing concentration leading to smaller pores and lower porosity. Specifically, adding 40 wt% EG decreased the pore size by 36.3% and porosity by 37.4%, while concurrently increasing the coating ratio by 3.24%. In-situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicated that EG incorporation significantly impeded ionic migration and promoted densification of the barrier layer. Notably, the linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) results showed that EG increased the overpotential of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and enhanced charge utilization efficiency. Moreover, EG suppressed phosphoric acid dissociation, effectively inhibiting oxide chemical dissolution and enabling formation of intact, compact PAA films. These findings reveal EG’s synergistic multi-mechanistic role in optimizing film formation, providing a theoretical basis for precise PAA fabrication control.