Electrical tracking in cycloaliphatic epoxy based nano structured composites

This investigation is dedicated to the development of a new class of nanostructured composite material from cycloaliphatic epoxy polymers with nanoclay and microsilica as the fillers and the analysis of the behavior associated in the inclined plane tracking test (IEC 60587). Composite materials with different weight percentages of fillers were prepared and subjected to electrical tracking according to the standard. XRD and SEM measurements were carried out to study the dispersion of the fillers and the morphology of the composites. It has been found that the nanostructured composite prepared with a lesser amount of nanoclay (1.0 to 2.5 wt%) showed a better resistance to tracking and erosion under wet contaminated conditions in the inclined plane tracking test.