Research on the Influence of Nanoparticles and Surface Microstructure on the Hydrophobic and Electrical Properties of Silicone Rubber Materials

In high-voltage power equipment, especially outdoor insulation equipment represented by insulators, there are higher and higher requirements for the surface flashover performance. The surface flashover is affected by many factors, such as surface roughness, nanofillers and chemical functional groups. In this chapter, polyamide mesh was utilised as a scaffold to systematically study the synergistic effect of micro structure/nanofiller/ superhydrophobicity on the surface flashover. Based on the dissolution and resolidification method, nanofillers were partially embedded into the mesh fabrics. Here, Al2O3 nanoparticles were used as a typical non‐conductive nanofiller, and carbon nanotubes were used as a typical conductive nanofiller. Moreover, the micro structure was determined by altering the mesh size, and chemical fluorination was utilised to change the surface chemical group. It was found that the polyamide mesh with 300# demonstrated best anti‐flashover properties. Chemical fluorination could effectively improve the flashover voltage. By further adjusting the ratio of Al2O3 to carbon nanotubes, the flashover voltage can be increased by up to 30%.