Anti-icing and temperature-rising behavior of Superhydrophobic nanoporous Aluminum conductor by anodic oxidation

Abstract Superhydrophobic surfaces have been extensively investigated as a surface treatment strategy for anti-icing applications. Given the complex structure of Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) used in overhead power lines, anodizing technology is regarded as a suitable method for industrial-scale preparation of such surfaces. In this study, the fabricated superhydrophobic aluminum wire exhibited an average pore diameter of 346 nm and a porosity of 60%, conferring good hydrophobicity (CA=155.6°, SA=8.2°). The anti-icing tests revealed that the treated hydrophobic aluminum demonstrated decreased ice adhesion strength and exhibited effective anti-frosting behavior. Temperature-rise tests showed that the superhydrophobic aluminum conductors could enhance the load capacity of the bare conductors by 37.6%, primarily due to the enhanced heat dissipation properties of the porous structure. Furthermore, the temperature-rise curves obtained under the wind speed indicated that the pronounced heat dissipation on ACSRs. This suggests that the prepared superhydrophobic aluminum line is capable of more effectively reducing transmission temperatures in the actual overhead environments. Therefore, the anodized nanoporous structures have good application prospects in high voltage fields for the anti-icing and heat dissipation effects.