Impact of Nanoparticles Functionalization on Partial Discharge Activity within PVC/SiO2 Nanocomposites

Partial discharges (PDs) diagnostics are necessary to monitor and detect any abnormal conditions such as; impurities or cavities during the manufacturing process of insulating materials of power cables. This paper aims to enhance PD activity of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with the insertion of chemically functionalized silicon dioxide (SiO
2
) nanoparticles through using the solution casting method. The surface functionalization of SiO
2
was performed using amino silane as a coupling agent after activating their surfaces with methanesulfonic acid. Then, PVC/SiO
2
nanocomposites, with different loadings of nanoparticles (0.5, 3%), were synthesized with the aid of ultra-sonication for better dispersion of nanoparticles. After that, the internal discharge measurements were performed using the traditional needle-plane configuration with the help of phase resolved partial discharge analyzer (PRPDA) that analyzes the statistical characteristics of PDs pattern. It is found that the PD activity of PVC/SiO
2
amino-functionalized nanocomposite samples that represented by discharge magnitude, inception voltage, extinction voltage, and the PD generation rate was enhanced compared to that of the PVC/SiO
2
un-functionalized nanocomposites or neat PVC samples. This is because the addition of SiO
2
nanoparticles was increased the trapping sites inside the insulating material and the generation rate of initial electrons will be reduced, resulting in further decrease in PD activities.