At present, the common protection technology of power-transmission and transformation equipment is mainly coating protection and hot-dip zinc protection. However, due to the low adhesion of epoxy zinc-rich coating, and the poor compatibility with top paint, environmental pollution, complex processing, high energy consumption and other defects of the hot-dip zinc process, its development is limited. In view of the above deficiencies, new anti-corrosion coating materials and processes were investigated in this study. Zinc coatings and Al-Zn coatings were prepared on the C45 steel matrix by hot-spraying and cold-spraying processes. The macro appearance, micromorphology and phase composition analysis of the coatings were evaluated. The adhesion of the coating to the substrate after the salt-spray test was tested. The results showed that the hot dip zinc coating and hot spray zinc coating had obvious cracking after the salt-spray test. The surface structure of cold-sprayed Al-Zn coating was relatively dense after the salt-spray test. The critical load of the cold-sprayed Al-Zn coating after the salt-spray test was higher than that of the other two coatings. The corrosion resistance to salt spray of cold-sprayed Al-Zn coating was demonstrated to be better than the hot-dip zinc coating, and thus has great application prospects.

The purpose of this work is to study the accelerated aging behavior of a room-temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber anti-pollution flashover coating. Red, blue and gray RTV rubber samples were selected to prepare coatings on the surface of stainless-steel sheets. The accelerated aging test was carried out in an aging test chamber according to a four-step program cycle. After the completion of different aging tests, the color difference, glossiness, surface micromorphology, wettability, insulation performance and other parameters of the samples were measured using colorimetry, infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and a high-voltage breakdown tester. The results showed that with the increase in aging time, the color difference ∆E_ab of the coatings increased. The G60 gloss value decreased gradually and tended to be saturated after 60 cycles. After the aging tests, the RTV coating surface had holes, cracks, peeling and other damage to varying degrees. The C:Si atomic ratio was less than 2, and the hydrophobicity was obviously deteriorated. After aging, the electrical strength of the three RTV coatings decreased significantly. It can be concluded that during the accelerated aging test, the RTV coating had cross-linking and oxidation reactions, and the internal deterioration and surface damage of the coating led to changes in its color, luster, morphology, insulation strength, etc.

Aqueous organic flow batteries (AOFBs) are a promising technology for large-scale energy storage. The electrolyte solution is significant in determining the battery’s performance, which has so far remained poorly understood, especially for concentrated electrolyte. In this work, by combining nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and molecular dynamic simulations, we explored ion pairing behavior in bipyridinium-based concentrated electrolytes for AOFBs. Through ¹H NMR and ³⁵Cl NMR investigation, the anisotropy of ion pairing behavior between the bipyridinium dications and the chloride counterions was demonstrated. The relationship between bipyridinium-based electrolyte structures and their solubility is illustrated. The volume-specific capacity of bipyridinium-based flow batteries varies and differs nearly threefold for 2.50 M electrolytes with different configurations. This work provides new insights for designing electroactive materials and optimizing the performance of AOFBs.