LAUSR

Abstract Insulation failure and surface flashover of nanocomposites insulator caused by charge accumulation remain to be major hurdles in the application of high voltage equipment. In this study, we develop a plasma fluorination treatment method to graft fluorinated functional groups onto the surface of nano-SiC, in order to change the interfacial characteristics of the nanocomposites and promote charge transfer. Surface potential measurement and volume conductivity measurement are performed to evaluate charge transfer in the nanocomposites. When the concentration of fluorinated nano-SiC is 5 wt.%, the surface decay rate of the sample is larger than that of samples doped with less nanofiller, and the initial surface charge density is 79.8% that of the undoped sample. Furthermore, the fluorinated nano-SiC/epoxy nanocomposites show larger volume conductivity because of the introduction of CF3 functional groups, which influences the interfacial characteristics and promotes charge transfer in the interfacial regions of the nanocomposites. This work demonstrates the effect of charge transfer on surface flashover of the nanocomposites and the plasma fluorination treatment of nanoparticles is a novel approach to promote charge transfer and boost surface electrical performance of nanocomposites.