Electric field distribution in nanocomposites containing one-dimensional nanofiller

Abstract

The need of having novel insulation systems that are capable to operate in the long term is arising due to their promising features that can significantly improve the electrical, mechanical, thermal and chemical properties in high voltage equipment. In this, polymers show signs of improvement in dielectric properties with the addition of nano-filled materials. The unique dielectric properties of nanocomposites as insulators are closely related to the presence of the interphase, i.e., an interaction zone between the nanoparticle and the polymer matrix. In this study, one-dimensional (1D) nanofillers and their interphases were modeled and analyzed using the Finite Element Method Magnetics (FEMM) 4.2 software. Two possible models of the interphase structure surrounding a nanoparticle were analyzed, i.e., one with rectangular-shaped interphase and the other with circularly-shaped interphase. While the polymer and the nanoparticle were assumed to have fixed permittivity values, different values of the thickness and the permittivity of the nanofiller interphase were assigned to determine their effects on the electric field distribution within nanocomposites. The results showed that the presence of the interphase affected the electric field intensity of the nanocomposites. As adjacent nanoparticles displaced further away from each other, the electric field intensity between the nanoparticles reduced. An attempt was made to relate the presence of the interphase with the breakdown behavior of nanocomposites.