Accelerated Charge Dissipation by Gas-Phase Fluorination on Nomex Paper

The surface charge and space charge accumulation in paper used in oil−paper insulation system may distort electric field distribution and lead to the flashover and breakdown of insulation system. In this paper, the effect of gas-phase fluorination on the surface charge and space charge characteristics of oil-impregnated Nomex paper was investigated. Nomex T410 was fluorinated at 25 °C using F2/N2 mixtures with 20% F2 in volume at 0.05 MPa for 15, 30 and 45 min. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) proved that the molecular chain scission and cleavage occurred during gas-phase fluorination. Furthermore, the surface charge and space charge characteristic of the original and fluorinated oil-impregnated paper were measured using an electrostatic voltmeter and Pulsed Electroacoustic (PEA) equipment respectively. Furthermore, the hole and electron trap distribution of the samples were obtained by Isothermal Surface Potential Decay (ISPD) model. The results showed that both the positive and negative charge decay rates were accelerated by gas-phase fluorination and the hole, electron trap energy and density of the fluorinated samples were reduced by fluorination. It is suggested that the space charge dissipation was also accelerated by fluorination, indicating that gas-phase fluorination is an effective approach to modify the charge dynamics of oil-impregnated Nomex paper.