Study on Dielectric Properties of Epoxy Resin Nanocomposites

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in Nanocomposites. By incorporating a few percent of nanoparticles into a host resin, it is possible to achieve drastically improved dielectric and mechanical properties. This paper studies the use of Nano technology to improve the electrical properties of epoxy resin which is used as a high voltage insulating material. Different combinations of epoxy resin Nano-composites have been fabricated in order to test the dielectric properties of the nanocomposites to identify the suitability of using them as high voltage insulating material. Material fabrication is done by concentrating Nano particles to epoxy resin such that w/w concentration of the Nano particles in the medium. Cycloaliphatic epoxy resins (Epon828) is used as the base material and use of Silicon Dioxide and Graphene Oxide as nano-fillers is tested in the high voltage laboratory. The dielectric properties of the fabricated nanocomposites are measured using dielectric strength test according to ASTM D- 149 standards which specifies dielectric breakdown standards for solids. Permittivity of the samples are measured using an LCR Meter, and the results are used to simulate the voltage distribution of the fabricated samples using commercially available finite element analysis software. It can be seen that by adding silicon oxide Nano particles to the epoxy resin, the dielectric strength has increased more than the pure epoxy sample. A maximum breakdown voltage was observed in the composition of 2% (w/w) silicon oxide particle sample. When concentration of the Nano particles are increased above 5% (w/w), the dielectric breakdown strength reduces drastically. Relative permittivity of the material was observed to be slightly higher when having lower Nano filler concentration such as 2% - 4% (w/w) for all fillers that were used.