Electric tree intrinsic self-healing epoxy insulating materials based on disulfide bond

Epoxy resin is one of the most commonly used insulating materials for electricians. Nevertheless, the emergence of localized damage or subtle microcracks within the material poses a formidable challenge in terms of detection and subsequent repair. The safe operation of power equipment is seriously jeopardized. In this study, driven by the need for self-healing insulating materials in power equipment applications, the successful synthesis of high-performance epoxy insulating materials featuring varying disulfide bond contents was achieved. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength and elongation at the break of epoxy insulations are enhanced by small amounts of disulfide bond. While an elevated content of disulfide bond diminishes the heat resistance and electrical characteristics of epoxy insulating materials, it is noteworthy that the prerequisites of epoxy resins for electrical applications remain adequately fulfilled. The results of the mechanical damage Self-healing test showed that the optimal repair efficiency reached 81.23 %. Simultaneously, the differentiation of electric tree branches can be inhibited by a disulfide bond. The diminishment of electric tree damage extent within epoxy resin is optimized, and the impairments of electric trees are repaired. Grounded in a disulfide bond, the viability of utilizing self-healing epoxy resins as insulating materials for electrical equipment is substantiated in this paper.