ELECtric field TailoRing of Organic-based Nano and micro-composite insulating materials – ELECTRON

Power electronics (PE) is the key technology to control the flow of electrical energy from the source to the load. New developments in PE allow the increase of the total power density of the conversion systems through the advances in: semiconductor technology (wide band-gap semiconductor), packaging materials, system integration and design reliability. However, this also increases the electric field, thus stressing electrically more and more the insulating materials. Field reinforcements in insulating polymers can reach critical values, resulting in space-charge build-up, partial discharge activity, treeing or even breakdown of the solid materials.
We propose a new approach to deal with field reinforcements in the polymeric dielectric materials. Appropriate dielectric properties across the dielectric will be simulated and tailored. First by elementary, then by complex structures, such as power modules; the developed materials will be processed and then characterized to determine their performance as insulators. The overall proposed strategy for material development could have an impact on the conception and use of insulators in electrical engineering (particularly in PE), since it could also be used to control other physical properties on the composites.