Study of SiO2 aerogel/CNTs photothermal de-icing coating for wind turbine blades

• Published in: JCT research Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 1499 - 1512
• Main Authors: He, Jianjun, Yan, Jingyi, Pu, Min, Jie, Jun, Luo, Guangwu, Zeng, Zijing, Duan, Zihao, Huang, Caiyuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aerogels; Carbon nanotubes; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coating; Corrosion and Coatings; Deicing; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; Polymer Sciences; Silicon dioxide; Stability; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Tribology; Turbine blades; Wind turbines; SiO; Photothermal de-icing coating; CNTs coatings; Wind turbine de-icing
• ISSN: 1547-0091; 1935-3804; 2168-8028
• DOI: 10.1007/s11998-024-00910-x

Ice on the surface of wind turbine blades may result in power production losses and unsafe operations. An effective technological solution to the ice issue is coating de-icing. This study first constructed SiO
2
aerogel/CNTs (carbon nanotube) coating with photothermal de-icing by incorporating photothermal nanoparticles into the created nanoporous structure. The coating structure examined by SEM and EDS analysis demonstrates that CNT particles can be well captured by the three-dimensional nanostructure of SiO
2
aerogel and form a stable symbiotic skeleton. After that, we examined how the quantity of CNT doping affected the coating's surface morphology and photothermal properties. The findings demonstrated that the C-6 coating made from 0.6% CNTs performed best. Utilizing the photothermal effect of CNTs, it exhibited a steady rate of temperature increase and reached the target temperature of 153.4°C in 561 s upon near-infrared light (808 nm) irradiation. According to the results of experiments testing the photothermal performance, mechanical/chemical stability, and applicability of the coating, the coating has the advantages of being lightweight, provides quick de-icing, high stability, and simple production. This study not only increases the viability of using coating de-icing technology on wind turbine blades but also offers creative solutions to scientific investigation in the area of coating de-icing.