Enhanced partial discharge resistance of epoxy/clay nanocomposite prepared by newly developed organic modification and solubilization methods

Frequency accelerated partial discharge (PD) aging of epoxy nanocomposite with 5 wt % additions of clay was investigated in comparison with that of epoxy without clay in terms of PD erosion depth. It was found that the change in the erosion depth is far smaller in specimens with clay than those without clay. The newly developed organic modification and solubilization methods give comparable PD resistance characteristics. The latter would be more resistant to PD´s than the former, if specimens were prepared properly. It was clarified that nano-micro mixed composites were superior to the single nanocomposite. Nano segmentation with some interaction zone effect is proposed as a mechanism of improvement in PD resistance.