Effect of polymer based nanocomposites on the electrical arcs in air

Abstract

According to the recent developments in nanocomposites, the polymer-based nanocomposites (PNCs) show promising quality to be used for improving the operational limits of electrical switching applications like low voltage circuit breakers, switch gears, etc. Such PNCs can be made by incorporating suitable nanoparticles (NPs) into a polymeric matrix by in-situ polymerization. During the interruption of high currents, high energy plasma arcs are initiated between the two electrodes of circuit breakers. The interaction of PNCs with high energy plasma arcs generates vapors (ablation). The ablated chemical species changes the thermodynamic properties of the arcing environment which helps to quench electrical arcs effectively.1,2 During this process, some chemical species depositions and morphological changes are also observed on the surface of PNCs.