1. Introduction
Current technologies require more and more electricity consumption, therefore the electrification industry, and especially energy distribution technology is still evolving. In order to provide a suitable amount of energy in a safe way, the high effectiveness of the working devices is a key parameter. The proper functionality of the electrical devices can be affected by the several complex factors. The most crucial stresses are the heat, and the dielectric and mechanical factors. Incorrectly selected and electrical insulation materials that are not optimized can lead to the malfunctioning or even damage of the device during its long-term operation in harsh environments [
1,
2]. One can find extensive research in the literature regarding the investigation of the influence of a harsh environment, such as the temperature and humidity, on the mechanical and long-term properties of epoxy resin-based systems [
3,
4,
5,
6].
The materials used as electrical insulation for a medium-voltage electrical apparatus have to combine many parameters, mainly, the dielectric, mechanical, and thermal parameters should be preserved. The correct selection of the polymer matrix, and especially, use of an appropriate filler, allow the manufacture of multifunctional polymer composites for their application in electrical devices [
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
12,
13,
14,
15].
Epoxy resin is a commonly used material for electrical insulation; it is frequently applied as a potting material or an external cover. Pure epoxy exhibits very low thermal conductivity (0.2 W/m·K) [
15], and relatively moderate dielectric and mechanical properties. All these parameters can be enhanced by incorporation of the fillers into the epoxy resin. Alumina (Al
2O
3) is often added to epoxy systems in order to encapsulate electrification apparatuses. Due to their high intrinsic thermal conductivity and suitable dielectric properties, alumina particles allow epoxy composites with enhanced properties to be obtained. High filler loading provides a more effective heat transfer through the composite as more heat paths are created [
13]. The incorporated filler also provides an efficient load transfer through the composite and as a consequence the mechanical behavior can be improved [
16,
17]. It is well known that the use of fillers with higher thermal conductivity, such as boron nitride or graphene, can lead to much higher overall thermal conductivity [
8,
10,
12], but their cost is high, and in the case of graphene, which is electrically conductive, the electrical insulation efficiency can be hindered [
8,
10]. It was shown in our earlier research, that the incorporation of a core-shell type of filler is an appropriate solution, from both a performance and a cost point of view [
9,
13].
In the previously presented work, it was demonstrated that novel core-shell particles Al
2O
3@AlN, which consist of a core made of standard alumina powders and a shell obtained by the formation of an outer thin layer of aluminum nitride (AlN), led to the enhancement of the thermal conductivity of epoxy composite by 63% in relation to the standard Al
2O
3 filler, and reaching a value of 2.3 W/m·K [
13]. However, in order to assess if a new material can be used as an efficient electrical insulation, several additional parameters should be investigated, such as the processing, dielectric and mechanical properties.
Research works related to epoxy composites filled with different types of core-shell particles can be found in the literature [
18,
19,
20,
21,
22]. The results indicate that incorporation of the core-shell fillers, such as AlN@Al
2O
3 particles or SiC@SiO
2 nanowires, can increase the storage modulus and improve the thermal conductivity [
18,
19]. Epoxy composites with multilayer core-shell structured fillers, like Si@SiO
2@polydopamine and Zn@ZnO@Al
2O
3, show an increase in dielectric constant and a reduction in dielectric loss, and the thermal conductivity of the composites is also significantly improved [
20,
21,
22]. Nevertheless, these studies only investigate a limited set of features, and there is not enough emphasis put on the complete analysis of all of the critical parameters, which are highly important from an application point of view.
Therefore, the aim of the presented work was to perform a comprehensive set of measurements in order to assess whether the epoxy system filled with the proposed core-shell particles fulfills the requirements for application. The first part of the research was done in order to confirm that the rheological behavior of the core-shell filled composite is not changed in relation to the reference system. Next, the mechanical, dynamic mechanical, and thermomechanical parameters were examined, and it was found that the overall properties of composite with the modified filler are better than that of the standard system. The last set of measurements indicated that the dielectric behavior of core-shell-based insulation is superior. Thus, the performed investigations proved that the obtained core-shell composite, besides having enhanced thermal conductivity, also exhibits adequate mechanical and dielectric performance and is suitable for application as an electrical insulation material.
4. Conclusions
The developed particles, in the form of a core-shell structure, are very promising fillers that could effectively replace the standard fillers in electrical insulation based on epoxy resin composites. It was shown that despite the enhanced thermal conductivity, which was demonstrated in our previous study, the core-shell filled epoxy composite also possesses other crucial parameters, which are required from an application point of view, namely:
The rheological behavior of the core-shell filled systems shows that application of the core-shell filler will not hinder the processability of the epoxy system during fabrication of the electrical devices.
The mechanical properties, namely, the tensile strength and the fracture toughness of the composite based on Al2O3@AlN core-shell filler, are better than that of the reference composite.
The dynamic mechanical analysis results indicate that the modified filler has a negligible influence on the glass transition of the core-shell filled composite.
The lower coefficient of linear thermal expansion measured for epoxy filled with core-shell filler can lead to the hinderance of delamination at the interface of the copper conductor and the epoxy electrical insulation.
One of the most interesting results is the observed enhancement of the dielectric strength value from 38 kV/mm for the standard system to 44 kV/mm (almost 16% increase) for the core-shell filled epoxy.
The observed enhancement of the thermal conductivity (shown previously), the currently presented superior mechanical and dielectric properties, and the lack of visible influence on the thermal and processing parameters, make the investigated composite with incorporated Al2O3@AlN core-shell filler an ideal candidate for the manufacturing of electrification devices with either much higher ratings or a reduction in the footprint of electrical apparatuses.