Properties of Ebonite. XXXVII. Electrical Properties of Synthetic Rubber Ebonites

Abstract

Abstract Experiments were carried out to explore the possibility of making good electrical ebonites from various types of synthetic rubber. The ebonites produced were tested for permittivity and power factor over wide ranges of temperature and frequency. Thioplasts (Thiokols AZ and FA) apparently do not produce hard ebonitelike vulcanizates by the normal procedure. Neoprenes (GN and I) give ebonites, but with such high dielectric power loss as to be unsuitable for use as high-frequency dielectrics; moreover, if the mix contains zinc oxide, the ebonite has a very hygroscopic and therefore electrically unsatisfactory surface. Butadiene copolymers containing polar groups (butadiene-acrylonitrile types and Thiokol RD) give ebonites with high power loss, hence are not suitable for making high-grade electrical ebonites. Polybutadiene (Buna-85) and butadiene-styrene copolymers (GR-S, Hycar-EP, Buna-S) are much nearer to natural rubber as far as the radio-frequency (100 to 2,500 kc. per sec.) power loss of their ebonites is concerned. The GR-S ebonite examined was not so good as natural rubber at room temperature, but was superior above about 50° C. Buna-85 and Hycar-EP were superior to natural rubber over the whole temperature range; indeed, the high-styrene copolymers, as represented by Hycar-EP and Buna-SS, appear to be the best type of synthetic rubber for making ebonite with low power loss, especially at high frequencies and temperatures. The effects of changing temperature and frequency on permittivity and power factor are discussed. Attention is drawn to the big effect of temperature on power factor; this was less with polybutadiene and butadiene-styrene ebonites than with natural rubber ebonite, in keeping with the greater heat resistance of the former as judged by plastic yield tests. Comparison of the effects of rising temperature and decreasing frequency shows that these produce broadly similar effects on power factor, as would be expected on theoretical grounds, but that rising temperature superposes a second effect (an increase), presumably due to increased ionic conduction.