Abstract/Summary

The breakdown characteristics of insulating materials depend on the materials’ resistance against voltage. In nanocomposites, it has been reported that the breakdown strength of the materials could be higher, or even lower, than their unfilled counterparts. This depends not only on different nanofiller/polymer combinations, but also on different nanofiller surface chemistries. Nevertheless, factors contributing the increased or reduced breakdown strength are far from understood. In this paper, experimental findings on the DC and AC breakdown strength of polyethylene/silica nanocomposites are reported. The nanocomposites’ breakdown behaviors were found to be different under DC and AC applied fields. Possible factors contributing to the observed breakdown behaviors are discussed.