Effect of Reactive Diluents on the AC Electrical Treeing in Epoxy/Nanosilicate Systems

The effect of reactive diluents on the ac electrical treeing in epoxy/nanosilicate systems was studied, in a needle-plate electrode geometry. Diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) type epoxy was used as a base resin, and layered silicate was used as a nano-sized filler. Polyglycol (PG) or 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDGE) was introduced as a reactive diluent to the DGEBA/nanosilicate system, in order to decrease the viscosity of the nanocomposite system. PG acted as a flexibilizer, and BDGE acted as a chain extender, after the curing reaction. To measure the treeing propagation rate, a constant alternating current (ac) of 10 kV/4.2 mm (60 Hz) was applied to the specimen, in a needle-plate electrode arrangement, at $30^{\circ}C$ of insulating oil bath. When 10 kV/4.2 mm (60 Hz) was applied, the treeing propagate rate in the DGEBA system was $1.10{\times}10^{-3}$ mm/min, and that in the DGEBA/PG system was $1.05{\times}10^{-3}$ mm/min. As 1.5 wt% of nanosilicate was added to the DGEGA/PG system, the propagation rate was $0.33{\times}10^{-3}$ mm/min. This meant that the nano-sized layered silicates would act as good barriers to treeing propagation. The effect of chlorine content was also studied, and it was found that chlorine had a bad effect on the electrical insulation property of the epoxy system.