IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 13, No.

6; December 2006 1317

Study on Hydrophobicity Transfer of RTV Coatings Based

on a Modification of Absorption and Cohesion Theory
Zhidong Jia, Haifeng Gao, Zhicheng Guan, Liming Wang
Laboratory of Advanced Technology of Electrical Engineering and Energy
Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University
Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, P.R.China

and Jie Yang

Electric Power Research Institute of Shanxi
Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, P.R.China

ABSTRACT
Room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber coatings are used increasingly on
outdoor high voltage (HV) insulators subjected to heavy pollution. An important
property of the RTV coatings is the ability to restore the surface hydrophobicity after a
pollutant layer has built up on the surface, which can suppress the development of
leakage currents, dry band arcing and flashover. The present study analyzes the
hydrophobicity and the hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings and the factors that
affected the hydrophobicity. A modification of absorption and cohesion theory was
used to analyze the hydrophobicity transfer mechanisms and the influences of
temperature, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) molecular weight, degree of cross-linking,
extent of soluble and non-soluble components, and the pollutant properties. The
hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings was also investigated with various conditions
of contaminations and various factors, which affect the hydrophobicity transfer,
including the composition of RTV coatings and the outside conditions. Results show
that the hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings is not only dependent on
compositions but also on factors of circumstance. The analysis also explains the obvious
difference between the hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings to kieselguhr and
kaolin based on a particle and surface analysis using the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller
(BET) method, which explains the relationship between a BET surface area and the
hydrophobicity transfer of the RTV coatings.
Index Terms — RTV silicone rubber, hydrophobicity, absorption and cohesion.

1 INTRODUCTION Generally, RTV coatings consist of a polymer and fillers.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is the basic polymer for RTV
IN many parts of the world, pollution flashovers have become
coatings. A typical PDMS structure is shown in Figure 1.
the major impediment to the uninterrupted supply of electrical
power. On traditional glass and porcelain insulator surfaces, wet
atmospheric conditions easily lead to the appearance of water
films. If the contamination is very heavy, salts in the
contaminants dissolve into the water films, resulting in
uncontrolled leakage currents, which easily lead to flashovers.
The maintenance of outdoor insulators has been an art learned
Figure 1. Chemical structure of PDMS. ( n ≈ 100 ~ 1000 ).
through experience with many methods. One of the best methods
to improve the insulator insulating properties, particularly in wet The length of the PDMS chain determines the polymer
and heavily polluted conditions, is to coat the surface with a layer viscosity. In PDMS, the methyl groups are hydrophobic which
of room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber [1-3]. enables it to repel water. The elasticity of the main chain makes it
RTV coatings have become very popular not only due to their more resistant to breakage or damage.
simple and convenient usage but also because of their long RTV coatings have good flexibility and good dielectric
lasting pollution flashover resistance [4, 5]. properties over a wide temperature range, with excellent
resistance to ultraviolet radiation, chemicals, thermal degradation
and corona discharge [6-8]. The most important properties of
Manuscript received on 11 August 2005, in final form 31 May 2006. RTV coatings for applications on outdoor insulators are

1070-9878/06/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE

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1318 Z. Jia et al.: Study on Hydrophobicity Transfer of RTV Coatings Based on a Modification of Absorption and Cohesion Theory

hydrophobicity and hydrophobicity transfer, which can restore protractor. For silicone rubber surfaces, the contact angle is
the hydrophobicity after a pollutant layer has built up on their approximately 100°, while for glass and porcelain surfaces,
surface. Numerous investigations [9-18] to describe the the contact angle is not more than 40°.
hydrophobicity mechanism have shown that the diffusion and The surface hydrophobicity is not a static property. The
transfer of low molecular weight (LMW) silicones in the hydrophobicity can be lost and recovered according to the
polymer from the bulk to the surface plays a decisive role in the surface conditions, the silicone rubber properties and the
hydrophobicity recovery. The LMW components are produced in outside conditions. Since the hydrophobicity transfer is the
both the polymerization of the silicone rubber and its degradation. most important property affecting the performance of RTV
Some previous researches have indicated that the silicone rubber coatings, the contact angle was measured at certain elapsed
is the single factor explaining the hydrophobicity and time in various test conditions. A hydrophobicity transfer
hydrophobicity transfer. The influences of thickness, substrate curve defined as a function of contact angle with time was
type, amount of silicone fluid, and solvent type on the then used to represent the hydrophobicity transfer of the RTV
electrical performance of RTV silicone rubber coatings have coatings.
also been investigated [19, 20]. However, most of these
hydrophobicity transfer investigations processed on RTV
coatings have neglected the influences of outer factors and the 3 ABSORPTION AND COHESION THEORY
dynamics of the LMW components which are the key parameters
affecting the outdoor insulating performance of RTV coated The first and the second laws of thermodynamics can be
insulators. used to indicate that a gas will be absorbed when it contact
with a solid surface. The absorbed amount on the solid surface
In the present study, the theory of absorption and cohesion per gram V is related to the gas and the solid surface
between a solid and air was modified to explain how deposited properties, the absorption equilibrium temperature, T, and the
contamination on a RTV coated surface can acquire the pressure, P.
hydrophobicity and to summarize factors which will affect the
hydrophobicity transfer. V= f (T, P, gas, solid) (2)
The attached forces of the solid surface will attach and hold
gas molecules to the solid surface; however, the attached gas
2 DESCRIPTION OF HYDROPHOBICITY molecules are not stationary in the center of the solid surface.
AND HYDROPHOBICITY TRANSFER The gas adsorbed molecules can move freely even
A hydrophobic surface is a surface that is not easily wet, on perpendicular to the solid surface even if there are strong
which water does not form a continuous film but forms interactions between the gas and the solid surface.
individual droplets. For outdoor insulation, the most important
properties of silicone rubber are its hydrophobicity and 3.1 ABSORPTION OF MONOLAYER
hydrophobicity transfer. If the solid surface is very smooth and the gas is absorbed
The hydrophobicity of surfaces is determined by the ratio of as a single layer of molecules, the absorption rate is inversely
the cohesive tension of water to the adhesive tension between related to the gas pressure. If the gas pressure is P and the
the water and the solid material. The simplest way to quantify percent of molecules without gas on the solid surface is 0, the
the hydrophobicity of a surface is by measuring the static absorption rate, Ra, can be expressed as:
contact angle of a water droplet on the surface. The contact
θ0
angle is defined as the angle formed between the tangent to Ra = a
the water droplet and the horizontal surface through the liquid, P (3)
c in Figure 2. The contact angle depends on the interfacial Where a is a proportionality factor.
forces on three boundaries, sw (between the solid and the
The desorption rate is directly related to the percent of solid
water), wa (between the water and the air), and as (between
molecules attached to gas molecules, , and the percent of
the air and the solid), which are related by the Young’s
attached gas molecules with sufficient energy to separate from
equation:
the solid molecules. Assuming that the minimum energy to
as = sw + wa cos c (1) separate from a solid molecule is a, which is the heat of
absorption, the number of attached molecules, Na, and the
percent of molecules, Na*, with energies over a is:
N a*
= fe ε a kT (4)
Na

Figure 2. Illustration of the interfacial surface tensions and equilibrium where f is a proportionality factor and k is the Boltzmann
contact angle in the Young’s equation. constant. The desorption rate, Rd, can then be expressed as:
R d = a 'θe ε a kT
(5)
In the static contact angle tests, a droplet of distilled water
(2.5 ± 0.5 s/cm) with a volume of 10 L was dropped on the where a’ is a proportionality factor and is the percentage of
test surface, and then the contact angle was measured with a solid molecules with attached gas molecules on the surface.

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IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation
When the absorption and desorption rates are equal:
The sum of the percentage of solid molecules with gas on
their surfaces, , and the percentages of the molecule without
gas on their surface, 0, must be 1:
0+ =1 (7)
Therefore combining the equation (6) and (7) gives the
absorption percentage as
b will also be affected by these parameters. Since the catalyst
θ=
b+P (8)
a −ε a
where b is e .
a'
3.2 ABSORPTION OF MULTIPLE LAYERS
Since Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller carried out a derivation
of the isotherm equation for multiple layers adsorption by a
method that is a generalization of Langmuir's treatment of the
monolayer [21], the absorption occurs as cohesion of the
second and additional layers to the first layer with the heat of
absorption equal to the heat of cohesion, if the solid surface is
smooth and the gas is absorbed as several layers of molecule.
When the absorption reaches equilibrium, the absorption
rate on the second layer is equal to the desorption rate of the
first layer. And the absorption rate on each layer i-1 is equal
to the desorption rate on layer i. If i (i = 0, 1, 2 …) is the
percentages of molecules in layer i with total molecules, the
adsorption and desorption rates for each layers are related by:
θ diameter, while the weight of a solid is proportional to the
a1 0 = a1'θ 1e ε kT
where ai are the proportionality factors for the absorption rates
when layer i is formed, while ai are the proportionality factors
for the desorption rates when layer i-1 is formed. 1 is the heat
of absorption for layer 1 and i (i = 0, 1, 2 …) are the heat of
the absorption for layer i.
The i (i=2 3…) are equal to l, which is the heat of
cohesion. The i (i = 0, 1, 2 …) are related as:
If Vm is the saturated absorptive capacity for a single layer
of molecules, the absorptive capacity with i layers is Vm (i i),
3.3 MODIFICATION OF THEORY
A colloid is an intermediate state between a liquid and a
solid. During the absorption process between a solid and a
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Vol. 13, No. 6; December 2006 1319
colloid, they are in contact or at a very short distance. Focused
θ0 on the hydrophobicity transfer between the RTV coating and
a = a'θe ε a kT (6)
the pollutants, the process of the pollutants acquire the
p
hydrophobicity is the same process that pollutants adsorb the
colloid matter, viz. the LMW. During this process, the
pollutants deposited on the surface of silicone rubber are
solids, while the LMW acts as the colloid. Since RTV
coatings mainly consists of the main polymer (PDMS), the
catalyst, the cross linking agent and the fillers, the properties
of the colloid, such as the LMW that exists in the coatings,
strongly influences the vulcanized process but has less effect
on the LMW, the colloid properties are mainly affected by
kT other parameters. Therefore, the degree of cross linking, p,
which describes the LMW movement, will be used to replace
the parameter P in equation (2), with the adsorption and
cohesion between the solid and the colloid assumed to be
functions of the temperature, T, the degree of cross linking, p,
the colloid properties and the solid pollutant properties:
V= f (T, p, colloid, solid) (12)
Equations (4) to (11) can also be modified by replacing the
gas pressure, P, with the degree of cross-linking, p. Thus, the
absorption is directly related to the environmental temperature,
the cross linking of the polymer, and the properties of the
colloid and the solid pollutants.
The solid parameters include the particle sizes and surface
areas, which can be represented by a parameter defined as
surface areas per unit weight. Generally, a big solid piece with
a regular shape has a small surface area per unit weight since
the surface area of the solid is proportional to the square of the
1
P cube of the diameter. Therefore, absorption is not as obvious
θ1 with large objects as with small powder particles where the
a2 = a 2' θ 2 e ε 2 kT
surface area per unit weight is so large that absorption can not
P be ignored.
The influence of the polymer properties and external factors
θ i −1 on the hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings was investigated
ai = ai'θ i e ε1 kT (9)
P by varying only one independent parameter in Equation (12) for
the modified theory of absorption and cohesion. The absorption
quantum, V, was then determined as only a function of one
variable at active but other variables fixed. Then the formula
of (12) can be expressed apart as below:
V p= f (p) T, colloid, solid
V T= f (T) p, colloid, solid
V colloid= f (colloid) T, p, solid
n V solid= f (solid) T, p, colloid (13)
∑θ
i =0
i =1 10
4 EXPERIMENTS
4.1 SPECIMENS
n
V = V m ∑ iθ i 11 Tests were conducted using a one-component basic RTV
i =0 coating without any solid filler, since the content of solid filler
was different in different RTV coating products, which would
have obvious effect on the hydrophobicity transfer. The main
polymer (PDMS), the content of catalyst and the cross linking
agent in the technically developed sample RTV coating were
1320 Z. Jia et al.: Study on Hydrophobicity Transfer of RTV Coatings Based on a Modification of Absorption and Cohesion Theory

the same as the normal coatings developed in the lab but little molecular weight on the contact angle. Four these conditions
changed with one variable at active but others fixed. with four PDMS molecular weights, the larger PDMS
The 0.5 mm thick, 15 cm long and 7.5 cm wide RTV coating molecular transferred the hydrophobicity more effectively to
was applied to a glass plate. Then a pollution layer with a non- the pollutant layer.
soluble deposit density (NSDD) of 1.0 mg/cm2 was then Degree of cross linking The amount of cross linking agent
deposited on the specimens to analyze the hydrophobicity was expressed as the percentage of the PDMS in the tests.
transfer. Kieselguhr and kaolin were used as the pollutant Figure 4 shows that the pollutant layer acquires the
according to the recommendations IEC 60507 [22]. hydrophobicity more slowly on specimens with larger
amounts of cross linking agent, which increases the degree of
4.2 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD cross linking that will slow the molecular movement and
The effects of temperature, molecular weight of the PDMS, reduces the hydrophobicity transfer.
degree of cross linking and contamination type on the
Table 1. Effect of temperature on the hydrophobic transfer
hydrophobicity transfer of the RTV coating were studied through
the hydrophobicity transfer test. Temperature 2 17 60

Temperature The temperature affects the movement of Time for hydrophobicity transfer h 30 16 2
molecules on the surface which influences the hydrophobicity
transfer, the effect of temperature was investigated using
temperature at respectively chosen at 2, 17, and 60 . 120

PDMS Molecular weight PDMS is the main ingredient in the 100

RTV coating, so the PDMS has a significant effect on the
hydrophobicity transfer. The PDMS molecular weight can be 80

0
Contact angle /
determined from its viscosity. Four kinds of PDMS with
various molecular weights were used to study the effect of the 60
PDMS while keeping other parameters constant.
40 148000 mPaS
Degree of cross-linking The catalyst and cross linking agents
are also important ingredients in the RTV coatings, which will 11300 mPaS
20 4800 mPaS
not form a film without them. The cross-linking agent controls 3000 mPaS
the degree of cross-linking in the coating. These tests used a 0
fixed kind of PDMS with 11300 mPaS, but the various 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
amounts of cross-linking agent. Time / h
Soluble and non-soluble pollutant components The first set
of samples used a NSDD at 1.0 mg/cm2 (kieselguhr and kaolin Figure 3. Hydrophobicity transfer of samples with various PDMS molecular
respectively) and various NaCl densities (equal soluble weights. NSDD: 1 mg/cm2.
deposit densities, ESDD) of 0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/cm2 in the
contaminated layer. The effect of deposit density on the
hydrophobicity transfer was investigated using kieselguhr 160
with NSDD of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 mg/cm2 respectively. 140

120
5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
0

100
Contact angle /

The experimental results illustrate the effects of the four

80
parameters listed in equation (12), the temperature, the degree
of cross linking, the colloidal properties of the polymer and 60
10 %
the properties of the solid pollutants. The interactions between 40 20 %
the polymer and pollutant properties were quantified in terms 30 %
of the surface structure and a BET surface analysis of the 20 50 %
pollutant surface with and without hydrophobicity. 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
5.1 FACTORS AFFECTING HYDROPHOBICITY
Time / h
TRANSFERENCE
Temperature The results listed in Table 1 indicate that the
Figure 4. Hydrophobicity transfer of samples with various amounts of cross
time needed for the pollutant to acquire the hydrophobicity linking agent. NSDD: 1 mg/cm2 (kieselguhr).
decreased with increasing environmental temperature. The
results verify that the higher temperature which causes the Extent of contamination Figure 5 clearly shows that the
molecules to move more rapidly, accelerate the transfer of the kieselguhr acquires the hydrophobicity more quickly than the
hydrophobicity to the pollutant layer. kaolin does, with a final contact angle on the kieselguhr
PDMS Molecular weight Figure 3 shows the effect of the surface of more than 120°, being higher than that on the

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IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 13, No. 6; December 2006 1321

kaolin surface, which is only about 100°. Increases in ESDD electrons to the incident electrons to be unity. If this ratio is
slowed the acquisition of the hydrophobicity. For the greater than unity, the surface becomes positively charged as
kieselguhr, the NaCl content had little effect on the final indicated by a white image on the screen. When this ratio is
contact angle for the ESDD below 0.2 mg/cm2, while for less than unity, the surface becomes negatively charged as
kaolin, the final contact angle was reduced by about 10° when indicated by a black image on the screen. The energy of the
the ESDD was increased from 0.05 mg/cm2 to 0.2 mg/cm2. incident beam is varied gradually until cross over occurs. The
SEM used in the present study was a JEOL JXA-840 machine.
Figure 7 shows SEM photographs of kieselguhr with and
140
without hydrophobicity. Figure 8 shows SEM photographs of
D Kieselguhr kaolin with and without hydrophobicity.
120

100 C
Kaolin
o
Contact Angle /

80 H
A: ESDD-0.2
B B: ESDD-0.1
60
G C: ESDD-0.05
D: ESDD-0
40 E: ESDD-0.2
A
F F: ESDD-0.1
20 G: ESDD-0.05
E H: ESDD-0 (a) Virgin kieselguhr (b) hydrophobic kieselguhr
0
1 10 100 1000 Figure 7. Structure of kieselguhr with and without hydrophobicity.
Time / h

Figure 5. Hydrophobicity transfer of samples with various solid pollutant

levels. NSDD: 1 mg/cm2, ESDD: 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 mg/cm2.

Figure 6 shows that the hydrophobicity is also transferred

from the RTV coating to the surface through the pollutant
layer, with little difference among the hydrophobicity transfer
curves for the NSDD less than 2.0 mg/cm2, while for the
(a) Virgin kaolin (b) hydrophobic kaolin
NSDD of 3.0 mg/cm2, the hydrophobicity transfer was found
Figure 8. Structure of kaolin with and without hydrophobicity.
to be significantly slowed down.
The kieselguhr shown in Figure 7 was deposited on the
specimen surface for 200 hours. The results in Figure 5 show
that the kieselguhr has good hydrophobicity after that time.
100 Comparison of the structure in Figures 7 and 8 show the
significant differences between the kieselguhr and kaolin
80
surfaces for both original and hydrophobic states. The
0
Contact angle /

kieselguhr structure has many small holes, while the kaolin

60
2
structure has many weddings. The holes in the kieselguhr will
3.0 mg/cm improve the movement of the organic molecules from the
2
40 2.0 mg/cm
2 contact surface between the silicone rubber and the pollutants
1.5 mg/cm
1.0 mg/cm
2 to the outside surface contacting the air, rapidly arriving at an
20
0.5 mg/cm
2 equilibrium state and holding that state on. Therefore, the
0
hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings is related to the
0 20 40 60 80 100 structure of pollution layer. After the pollutants have acquired
Time / h the hydrophobicity, the low molecular weight silicone fluid,
which diffuses in the coating, surrounds the pollutants with
Figure 6. Hydrophobicity transfer of samples with various NSDD. a fluid layer that imparts the hydrophobicity to the pollution
All the results show that the hydrophobicity can be layer. The hydrophobic kieselguhr shows that some of the
transferred from the RTV coating to the surface through the holes are filled certain matters that adhere on the surface of
pollutant layer. However, the characteristics of the the holes, while for the hydrophobic kaolin, the edges of
hydrophobicity transfer depend on the solid pollutants too, so weddings have become smoothed by the oil-like matters
their structural characteristics need further investigation. covering.

5.2 STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS 5.3 PARTICLE ANALYSIS

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) The monitored The particle distributions of kieselguhr and kaolin were
parameter of SEM is the “Cross Over Voltage” (COV) which measured with and without hydrophobicity. Figure 9 shows the
is defined as the energy of the incident electron beam which particle distribution of kieselguhr with and without
causes the ratio of the back scattered plus the secondary hydrophobicity with Table 2 giving the statistical distribution of

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1322 Z. Jia et al.: Study on Hydrophobicity Transfer of RTV Coatings Based on a Modification of Absorption and Cohesion Theory

the particle sizes. The data show that the particle sizes of Since the kieselguhr and the kaolin are normally deposited
kieselguhr were reduced after acquiring the hydrophobicity as on the surface with distilled water in the artificial pollution
some organic matters filled in the holes. Figure 10 shows the test and the hydrophobicity transfer test, to avoid the effects of
particle distribution of kaolin with and without hydrophobicity distilled water on the results of BET surface area analysis, the
with Table 3 giving the statistical distribution of the particle original BET surface area of pollutants, BET S1, and the
sizes. The particle sizes of the virgin kieselguhr are bigger than treated BET surface area of pollutants with immersed in
the particle sizes of virgin kaolin, which might be a reason why distilled water, BET S2, were measured respectively, as listed
the kaolin acquires hydrophobicity slower than the kieselguhr. in Table 4. Results show that the distilled water has little
The results also show that the particle sizes of the hydrophobic effects on BET surface area though the BET surface area
kaolin are increased due to the conglobation and the increased little, and the increase trends on three samples are
hydrophobicity transfer. similar. Therefore the effects of distilled water during the test
Table 2. Particle sizes of kieselguhr in various states
can be ignored in the following study. From Table 4, the BET
virgin with hydrophobicity surface areas of pollution powers are different with the
Particle Size of
probability distribution / m / m amount of the pollutant contents, which means the BET
surface area is a function of the pollutant. So the relationship
d(0.1) 2.884 4.495
between the BET surface area and the hydrophobicity transfer
d(0.5) 14.192 13.867 of RTV coatings was studied.
d(0.9) 49.779 36.414

6 Virgin kaolin
Virgin kieselgur With hydrophobicity
6
With hydrophobicity 5
5
4
4
Volume /%
Volume /%

3
3
2
2
1
1
0
0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
0.1 1 10 100 1000 Particle size /μm
Particle size/μm
Figure 10. Particle distribution of kaolin with and without hydrophobicity
Figure 9. Particle distribution of kieselguhr with and without hydrophobicity
Table 4. BET surface of kieselguhr, kaolin and their mixture
Table 3. Particle sizes of kaolin in various states Kieselgur Kaolin BET S1 BET S2
Particle Size of virgin with hydrophobicity /% /% / ( m2 / g ) / ( m2 / g )
probability distribution / m / m Pollutant A 100 0 2.74±0.04 2.84±0.05
d(0.1) 1.690 18.783 Pollutant B 0 100 24.16±0.06 24.89±0.24
d(0.5) 6.106 191.74 Pollutant C 50 50 12.55±0.08 13.34±0.11
d(0.9) 32.812 1046.153

With the NSDD of the pollution layer fixed at 1.0 mg/cm2,

5.4 BET SURFACE ANALYSIS OF POLLUTANTS the results in Figure 11 shows that the increased kieselguhr
BET surface area is an important property of powders, content reduced the time to acquire the hydrophobicity, while
which describes the gas adsorption process at the solid surface the time to acquire the hydrophobicity increased as the kaolin
and represents the capability of this absorption. BET surface content increased, which means increasing the BET surface
area analyzer has the capability to measure surface area by the area of the pollutants increased the time to acquire the
BET method. It uses a flowing-gas technique in which the hydrophobicity transfer for the mixed pollutants. To further
analysis gas flows into a tube containing the sample and into a verify this conclusion, cement was also added to the mixture
balance tube at the same time and provides rapid and accurate as an artificial pollutant. The BET surface area of the cement
sample analysis for solid materials. In present study, the BET was 2.18 ± 0.02 m2/g. Table 5 lists the mixture used in this
surface areas of kieselguhr, kaolin and their mixture are listed test. With their hydrophobicity transfer curves shown in
in Table 4, which are measured on a BET surface area Figure 12, the results also show that the pollutants with small
analyzer, ASAP 2010 (Micromeritics). BET surface areas required less time for the hydrophobicity

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IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 13, No. 6; December 2006 1323

transfer than the pollutants with large BET surface areas. surface, the interaction between the liquid and the solid is also
Therefore, the BET surface might be a key reason for the related to the BET surface area since the pollutants are
different hydrophobicity transfer rate between kaolin and commonly hydrophilic. To restrain this interaction and
kieselguhr. represent hydrophobicity, more LMW components are
required to cover the pollutant surfaces. Some points should
be emphasized here that this conclusion applies only to the
small pollutant particles with micro-structures and similar
140
particle diameters. If the particle diameters are too large, the
120 LMW components will have to move a long distance so the
A surface can not easily acquire the hydrophobicity.
100
o
Contact angle /

B
80
6 CONCLUSION
C
60
A : Kieselguhr-100%, Kaolin-0% The RTV coatings can transfer the hydrophobicity to the
D contamination deposited on their surfaces. Based on the
40 B : Kieselguhr-75%, Kaolin-25%
E C : Kieselguhr-50%, Kaolin-50% modification of absorption and cohesion theory, the
20 D : Kieselguhr-25%, Kaolin-75%
E : Kieselguhr-0%, Kaolin-100% hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings is found to be related
0 to many factors, including the temperature, the ingredients of
1 10 100 1000
silicone rubber, the degree of cross linking, the content of the
Time / h soluble salt and the type of contamination. The results also
show that the hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings is
Figure 11. Hydrophobicity transfer of various mixture samples. NSDD: 1 related to the micro-structure of the pollutants. The SEM,
mg/cm2, ESDD: 0.1 mg/cm2. particle analysis and BET analysis results show that the
Table 5. Components of mixed pollutants kieselguhr acquires the hydrophobicity more quickly than the
Kieselgur Kaolin Cement kaolin due to its micro structure with many small which
/% /% /% creates a particle distribution, BET surface area, and
Pollutant #1 100 0 0 absorption and cohesion properties that improve the
Pollutant 2 #
0 100 0
hydrophobicity transfer of RTV coatings. The BET surface
area is an important parameter of pollutants representing the
Pollutant #4 50 0 50
absorption capability of the solid surfaces, which will affect
Pollutant #5 0 50 50 the hydrophobicity transfer of the RTV coatings and can be
Pollutant 6 #
0 0 100 changed by various pollutants and the amount of the pollutant
contents. The hydrophobicity transfer to pollutants with larger
BET surface areas takes longer on same RTV coatings.
140
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
120 The authors acknowledge the financial support from the
100 National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
o

1
Contact Angle /

4
50277022). The authors also would like to thank the Analysis
80 Center of Tsinghua University for doing some of the
6 measurements.
60 #
1: Pollution 1
#
40 2: Pollution 2
2 #
4: Pollution 4
#
REFERENCES
20 5 5: Pollution 5
#
6: Pollution 6 [1] R.S. Gorur, E. Cherney, C. D. Tourreli, D. Dumora, R. Harmon,
0 H.Hervig, B. Kingsbury, J. Kise, T. Orbeck, K. Tanaka, R. Tay, G.
1 10 100 1000
Toskey and D. Wiitanen, “Protective coatings for improving
Time / h contamination performance of outdoor high voltage ceramic insulators,”
IEEE Trans. Power Del., Vol. 10, pp. 924-933, 1995.
[2] Jia Zhidong, Guan Zhicheng, Gao Haifeng, "Flashover mechanism of
Figure 12. Hydrophobicity transfer of various pollutants. NSDD: 1 mg/cm2,
RTV coated insulators," IEEE Conf. Electr. Insul. Dielectr. Phenomena,,
ESDD: 0.1 mg/cm2.
Cancun, Mexico, pp. 566-569, 2002.
[3] S. H. Kim, E. A. Cherney and R. Hackam, “Suppression Mechanism of
The transfer speed is inversely related to the BET surface Leakage Current on RTV Coated Porcelain and Silicone Rubber
area for several reasons. First, although the pollutants with Insulators,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., Vol. 6, pp. 1549-1555, 1991.
larger BET surfaces can readily adsorb the LMW components, [4] R. E. Carberry and H. M. Schneider, "Evaluation of RTV coating for
they also have larger surface areas if the weight of pollutants station insulators subjected to coastal contamination," IEEE Trans.
Power Del., Vol. 4, pp. 577-585, Feb. 1989.
is same, which means that they need more LMW components [5] E. A. Cherney and R. S. Gorur, “RTV silicone rubber coatings for
to cover their surface and then acquire the hydrophobicity. outdoor insulators,” IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 6, pp. 605-
Secondly, when a water droplet is dropped on the polluted 611, Oct. 1999.

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1324 Z. Jia et al.: Study on Hydrophobicity Transfer of RTV Coatings Based on a Modification of Absorption and Cohesion Theory
[6] R. Matsuoka, H. Shinokubo, K. Kondo and R. S. Gorur, “Investigation Zhidong Jia (M’06) was born in Taiyuan, Shanxi
of field energized RTV coated porcelain insulators,” IEEE Proceedings Province, P. R. China on 4 October 1966. He
of International Symposium on Electrical Insulating Materials, pp.185- received the B.S and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
188, Sep. 17-22, 1995. engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi’an,
[7] S. H. Kim, E. A. Chereny, R. Hackam and K. G. Rutheford, “Chemical P. R. China, in 1987 and 2001, respectively. From
changes at the surface of RTV silicone rubber coatings on insulators 2001 to 2003 he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in
during dry-band arcing,” IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol.1, pp. Tsinghua University. He is now an associate
106~123, 1994. professor in the Graduate School at Shenzhen,
[8] N. Yoshimura, S. Kumagai and S. Nishimura, “Electrical and Tsinghua University. His major research fields are
Environmental Aging of Silicone Rubber Used in Outdoor Insulation,” high voltage insulation, improvement of RTV
IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 6, pp. 632-650, Oct. 1999. coatings, preventing ice on outdoor insulation, discharges along hydrophobic
[9] J. P. Reynders, I. R. Jandrell and S. M. Reynders, “Review of aging and surfaces and nano electrical spins.
recovery of silicone rubber insulation for outdoor use,” IEEE Trans.
Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 6, pp. 620-631, Oct. 1999. Haifeng Gao was born in Beijing, China, on 29
[10] H. Deng and R. Hackam, “Low Molecular Weight Silicone Fluid in October 1979. He received the B.S. degree in
RTV Silicone Rubber Coatings”, IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., electrical engineering from the Department of
Vol. 6, pp. 84-94, Feb. 1999. Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing,
[11] R. Hackam, “Outdoor HV composite polymeric insulators,” IEEE Trans. P.R. China, in 2002. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in
Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 6, pp. 557-585, 1999. high voltage engineering in Tsinghua University.
[12] J. W. Chang and R. S. Gorur, “Surface Recovery of Silicone Rubber His research areas are mainly improvements of RTV
Used for HV Outdoor Insulation,” IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., coatings, characteristics of RTV coating, and
Vol. 1, pp. 1039-1046, Dec. 1994. discharges along hydrophobic surfaces.
[13] S. M. Gubanski, “Properties of Silicone Rubber Housings and
Coatings,” IEEE Electr. Insul. Mag., Vol. 27, pp. 374-382, 1992. Zhicheng Guan (M’06) was born in Jilin Province,
[14] J. G. Wankowicz, S. M. Gubanski and W. D. Lampe, “Loss and China, on 10 November 1944 and received the B.S.,
Recovery of Hydrophobicity on RTV Coating Surface,” IEEE Trans. M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in high voltage engineering
Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 1, pp. 604-614, 1994. from the Department of Electrical Engineering,
[15] S. H. Kim, E. A. Cherney and R. Hackam, “Effects of Filler Level in Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China, in 1970,
RTV Silicone Rubber Coatings Used in HV Insulators,” IEEE Electr. 1981, and 1984, respectively. He is now a Vice
Insul. Mag., Vol. 27, pp. 1065-1072, 1992. President of the Tsinghua University Council and the
[16] S. H. Kim, E. A. Chemey and R. Hackam, “The Loss and Recovery of Dean of the Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua
Hydrophobicity of RTV Silicone Rubber Insulator Coatings”, IEEE University. His major research fields are high voltage
Trans. Power Del., Vol. 5, pp. 1491-1500, 1990. insulation and electrical discharges, flashover
[17] H. Homma, T. Kuroyagi, K. Izumi, C. L. Mirley, J. Ronzello and S. A. mechanisms on contaminated insulators, electromagnetism environmental
Boggs, “Diffusion of Low Molecular Weight Siloxane from Bulk to technologies, and applications of plasma and high voltage technologies in
Surface,” IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 6, pp. 370-375, 1999. biological and environment engineering.
[18] R. S. Gorur, J. W. Chang and O. G. Amburgey, “Surface Hydrophobicity
of Polymers Used for Outdoor Insulation,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., Vol. Liming Wang was born in Zhejiang Province, China,
5, pp. 1923-1933, 1990. on 30 November 1963, and received the B.S., M.S.,
[19] H. Deng, R. Hackam and E. A. Cherney, “Influence of Thickness, and Ph.D. degrees in high voltage engineering from
Substrate Type, Amount of Silicone Fluid and Solvent Type on the the Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua
Electrical Performance of RTV Silicone Rubber Coatings,” IEEE Trans. University, Beijing, P.R. China, in 1987, 1990, and
Power Del., Vol. 11, pp. 431-443, Jan. 1996. 1993, respectively. He has worked at Tsinghua
[20] D. H. Han, H. Y. Park, M. S. Ahn and D. P. Kang, “The Effect of University since 1993. His major research fields are
Silicone Fluids on the Properties of Silicone Rubber for Composite high voltage insulation and electrical discharges,
Insulators,” IEEE Proceedings of International Conference on Properties flashover mechanisms on contaminated insulators,
and Applications of Dielectric Materials, Vol. 2, pp. 730-733, May 1997. and applications of pulsed electric fields.
[21] S. Brunauer, P. H. Emmett and E. Teller, “Adsorption of gases in
multimolecular layers”, Journal of the American Chemical Society. Vol. Jie Yang was born in Shanxi, China in 1966, and received the B.S. degree in
60, pp. 309-319, 1938. the Department of Electrical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an,
[22] IEC 60507 Artifical pollution test on high voltage insulators to be used P.R. China, in 1990. He is now chief engineer in the Institute of Electric
on a.c. system. 1991. Power Science and Research of Shanxi.

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