The hydrophobicity improvement of high voltage insulator based on epoxy polysiloxane and rice husk ash compound

The hydrophobicity on surface of insulator material in outdoor is very important. In humid and the rainy conditions, the insulator surface must not easily wet, so that the surface conductivity of insulators remain low, thus the surface leakage current is very small. Therefore the polymeric insulator must be hydrophobic and withstand against environmental conditions. This paper presents the effect of polysiloxane content upon contact angle and the hydrophobicity of high voltage insulator made of epoxy resins, polydimethyle siloxane (PDMS) and rice husk ash compound in artificial environment. The samples of epoxy resin insulating materials were based on Diglycidyl Ether of Bisphenol A (DGEBA), Metaphenylene-Diamine (MPDA) as curing agent and 325-mesh Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as filler, treated with variation of PDMS content. This research aims to improve the hydrophobicity of polymeric insulation materials. Experimental method was carried out through the following procedure. The samples were installed in the special chamber, then were exposed to pollutant at their surfaces. They were radiated using ultraviolet in artificial environment. Contact angle of water droplets on the sample surface was measured. The experiment results showed that the PDMS treatment of filler can improve the hydrphobicity of insulator material, compared without PDMS.