Electrical Properties of CF3SO2F Insulating Gas Based on Density Functional Theory

Environmentally friendly insulating gases are increasingly being explored as substitutes for SF6 due to environmental concerns. CF3SO2F gas exhibits excellent insulation and environmental protection properties, making it an ideal substitute for SF6. In electrical equipment, the insulating gas is subjected to prolonged exposure to external electric fields. However, there has been no research conducted on the microscopic effects of electric fields on CF3SO2F gas. In this article, the electrical properties of a new environmentally friendly insulating medium CF3SO2F under external electric field are investigated from a microscopic perspective through density functional simulations. The impact of electric fields on geometric structures is analyzed based on the structural characteristics of gas molecules, while the effect of electric field polarization on the insulation performance of gas molecules is revealed through space charge characteristics. The results indicate that the molecular bond length undergoes significant changes under prolonged polarization of the electric field, leading to a gradual decrease in the energy gap of the front orbital and an improvement in molecular conductivity. Consequently, stability continuously declines until chemical bond fracture occurs when the energy gap reaches a certain threshold. This is consistent with the IR spectra and contributes to understanding the electric breakdown mechanism of insulating gases, providing a valuable reference for detecting gas breakdown through infrared spectroscopy.