64 / 2022-03-09 12:17:45

Facile fabrication of nanocomposite coating for optimizing electric field distribution and inhibiting charge accumulation

nanomaterials,plasma,surface charge,flashover

Purpose/Aim

With the increase of the voltage level of electrical equipment, the electrical insulation often fails when high electric fields are generated. For example, once the surface flashover occurs in power transmission lines, the electrical equipment may burst into flames or explode by overheat.

Experimental/Modeling methods

Here, we developed a simple and high-throughput deposition method for TiO₂/SiO₂ nanocomposite coating via atmospheric-pressure plasma synthetic jet, and achieve gradient dielectric constant distribution of coating from high voltage electrode to the ground electrode by adjusting component content. 

Results/discussion

The FGM coating optimizes the partial electric field distribution, especially at the triple junction. SiO₂ builds a high Schottky barrier for the metal-polymer interface, and low proportion of TiO₂ increases the high-energy electron trapping ability, so the charge injection is suppressed.

Conclusions

Under the combined effect of macroscopic electric field distribution optimization and microscopic charge injection suppression, the flashover voltage of the polymer is increased by 42.3%. This method proposes a new idea for the improvement of dielectric performance, and can also be used in the precise designing of gradient materials in various applications.