Nanodielectrics: opportunities and challenges

Nanodielectrics, a nowadays popular term in the dielectrics community, has been the subject of intensive research over the past 10 years. In fact, the term “nanodielectrics” stems out of the field of polymer nanocomposites-an emerging field of nanotechnology. Whereas polymer nanocomposites concern polymers within which nanometer-sized fillers are homogeneously dispersed at just a few weight percentage (wt%), the term “nanometric dielectrics,” or “nanodielectrics”, refers to nanocomposites of specific interest in connection with their dielectric characteristics. Nevertheless, for the scope of HV electrical insulation research, the terms “nanocomposites” and “nanodielectrics” are used interchangeably to refer to polymer/ nanoparticle mixtures of dielectric interest.