Numerical Simulation on Charge Transport and DC Breakdown in Polyethylene-Based Micro-h-BN/Nano-SiO2 with Filler Orientation Dependent Trap Energy

In order to improve the thermal conductivity and the insulation properties of polyethylene (PE) used as cable insulation under DC stress, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and inorganic particles have been considered as micro-filler and nano-filler, respectively. As a 2D material, the orientation of h-BN possibly affects the insulation properties of the polymer. It is important to understand the influence of the filler orientation on the insulation performance of the polymer. In this work, a numerical simulation has been performed to investigate the effect of orientation of micro-h-BN on charge transport and DC breakdown of PE-based micro/nano-composites and a comparison between the simulation result and previous literature data has been conducted. The h-BN was designated to be parallel, perpendicular to the normal sample surface vector (the direction of electric field in this work) or randomly distributed in the matrix, and the charge transport behavior and DC breakdown strength in the samples were discussed by using the bipolar charge transport (BCT) model. The results indicated that when the h-BN was perpendicular to the normal vector, the density of trapped charge was the largest and the DC breakdown strength was the highest among the three cases studied. It is suggested that the charge trapping/de-trapping processes and the electric field in the sample vary with the orientation of h-BN through tailoring the trap characteristics of the material.