I — Chemical research in insulating materials

INSULATING MATERIALS of the type at present being used in electrical design are difficult to interpret from the standpoint of fundamental characteristics and behavior, not only because of their underlying complexities, but also to a large degree because of their lack of purity. As yet satisfactory methods for gaging the chemical purity of such materials have not been developed despite the fact that their electrical properties, depend principally upon the presence or absence of electrolytic impurities. Insulation tests in use generally are electrical in nature; nevertheless their exact relationship to the impurities and chemical behavior of the insulation under test is largely a matter of speculation, and based but little upon experimentally determined facts.