Preparation and performance study of SiO2 aerogel thermal insulation coating with nanoporous structure for wind turbine blade surface

Abstract

To prepare a base layer of thermal insulation for the surface of wind turbine blades, we utilized SiO2 aerogel material with a nanoporous structure as the thermal insulation layer of an inorganic composite photothermal de-icing coating. We further investigated the influence of raw material ratio and process on the thermal insulation layer’s performance. By adjusting the process parameters, the microstructure and characteristics of the SiO2 aerogel thermal insulation coating were controlled. Microstructure scanning and EDS analysis were employed to assess the results. The results of the experiment suggest that, as opposed to brush coating, atomized spraying is a better technique for creating SiO2 aerogel thermal insulation coating. The coating possesses excellent mechanical stability and applicability, maintaining a coating wear rate within 5% after 20 wear cycles under a load of 1734 N/m2, and the coating achieves the highest class 0 surface adhesion to the substrate surface. The coating exhibits exceptional heat insulation performance, reaching a temperature of 32.7 °C after five spraying cycles, which is 20.0 ∼ 29.4 °C higher than the surface without producing a complete heat insulation layer. The SiO2 aerogel aqueous slurry has a viscosity of 31.3 ∼ 36.9 mPa∙s, which is capable of forming a uniform membrane surface when sprayed at a 60° angle at 0.95 MPa pressure. Consequently, this paper’s design of photothermal thermal insulation offers strong anti-abrasion and excellent thermal insulation, presenting a new avenue for scientific investigation into coating photothermal de-icing.