Study on UV degradation in Polymeric Insulating Materials for Use in Outdoor Insulators by Corona-Charging

코로나 대전을 통한 옥외용 고분자 절연재료의 자외선 열화특성 연구

In this paper, we have investigated the degradation of shed materials of outdoor insulators by UV-radiation by using corona-charging and XPS analysis. The accumulated charges on polymeric surface having intrinsic hydrophobic property have a negative impact on retaining its hydrophobicity. Therefore, shorter decay times of surface charges are preferred. The surface voltage decay on UV-treated silicone rubber and EPDM show a different decay trend with UV treated time. From the XPS analysis, the oxidized groups of silica-like structure in silicone rubber increase with UV treatment time. For EPDM, the oxidized carbon groups of C=O, O=C-O increase as elapse of UV radiation time. These oxidized surface for each material have different electrostatic characteristics, so deposited charges may be expected to have different impacts on their surface hydrophobicity. The degradation mechanism based on our results is discussed.