Upcycling wind turbine blades into durable Super-Hydrophobic coating for High-Efficiency Anti-Icing application

With the rapid growth of renewable energy sources such as wind energy, the recycling of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites has garnered increasing attention to mitigate environmental impact and resource waste. In this study, decommissioned wind turbine (WT) blades were recycled using self-developed solid-state shearing milling (S 3 M) equipment. The recycled fine powder of WT blades was then modified organically through silanization and thiol-ene click chemistry. The multidimensional characterizations confirmed the successful synthesis of a superhydrophobic product, referred to as S@WGE@Kh. Then, a superhydrophobic coating with strong mechanical stability, durability, and chemical stability was achieved via a two-step spraying strategy. The final epoxy/S@WGE@Kh coating exhibited a water contact angle of 162.0 ± 1.0° and a roll-off angle of 6.0 ± 0.5°, with surface free energy as low as 1.05 mN/m. The coating’s freezing time was extended by 5-fold compared to the neat epoxy coating. Moreover, the finite element simulation was used to investigate the phase transfer process during icing, providing insights into the anti-icing mechanism of the superhydrophobic surface. This approach presents a promising strategy for upcycling WT blades via superfine grinding and surface functionalization, offering significant opportunities for further research and practical applications.