Anti-Icing Performance of Lubricant-Infused Surfaces

The icing on transmission lines seriously threatens the safe operation of power system. Liquid-infused surfaces (LIS) shows a great potential in the anti-icing field due to its extremely low ice-adhesion strength. Herein, the freezing time, frost morphology, anti-icing performance under glaze ice, and anti-icing durability of the LIS were systematically studied. 1061 aluminum, the same material as aluminum conductors, was selected as the substrate. The porous surface was prepared by anodic oxidation, and the LIS was prepared by infusing silicone oil into the porous structure. The freezing time of the LIS at −8 °C was 1890 s, which was about 7 times that of the bare. The frost weight of the LIS at
$2.0 h$
was 120.5 mg, which was much lower than that of bare. Under the glaze icing, sparse ice particles appeared on the LIS at 3.0 h, while, a dense ice layer appeared on the bare after 2.0 h. Finally, the LIS showed low ice-adhesion strength, only 1.5 % of that of bare. The LIS maintained extremely low ice-adhesion strength (<20.0 kPa) during 20 icing/deicing cycles. Therefore, compared with the bare surface, the LIS show significant icing and frosting delay, excellent anti-icing performance and anti-icing durability. This work provides valuable information for anti-icing applications of LIS in transmission lines.