Novel nanocomposite thin film for arc ablation resistance

Abstract

High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission systems are at the forefront of electrical engineering research. There are a few challenges with incorporating HVDC for industrial use, of which, developing safe and capable circuit breakers is of utmost importance. When a circuit breaks in a HVDC system, arc plasma is generated due to the extremely high voltages. This work presents a unique solution for arc ablation resistant materials, a thin Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) film with inorganic fillers dip-coated on an alumina substrate. The presence of Zinc Oxide nanofillers increases the dielectric permittivity while keeping the loss tangent the same as the baseline PMMA coating. The presence of Zinc Oxide is also shown to shift the UV absorption peak, indicating that the composite can be tuned for energy absorption during plasma arc.