Scalable and Durable Superhydrophobic RTV Silicone Rubber Insulator Coatings via Fluorosilane-modified Silica Nanoparticle Incorporation

RTV silicone rubber coatings have been widely applied to insulators because of their good hydrophobicity and anti-fouling performance. However, challenge is presented as pollution flashovers frequently occur on the insulators operating for years along transmission lines due to the hydrophobicity decline and deterioration of their RTV coatings. In this study, superhydrophobic RTV silicone rubber insulator coatings were fabricated on glass substrate using PDMS as base material and fluorosilane-modified silica nanoparticles as hydrophobic fille via simply high-pressure spraying, with 160° contact angle and rolling angle less than 10°. The prepared coating maintains superhydrophobic stability under a harsh environment involving six low (-15°C, 24 h) high (80°C, 24 h) temperature cycles, and it exhibits excellent acid and alkali corrosion resistance. Rather than laboratory research, this presented technique is facile and scalable, capable of large-area superhydrophobic coating production on the complex surface, thereby boding well for great potentials in practical application.