Biomimetic Surface with Prominent Insulating and Hydrophobic Performance Self-Assembled by Plasma and FAS-17 Synergistically Fluorinated Boron Nitride Nanosheets

Flashover and dampness deterioration are critical factors threatening external epoxy composite insulation devices, which badly affect the security of high-voltage transmission equipment. The surface of the epoxy composite is vulnerable in insulation. Therefore, it is important to prevent surface insulation failure by constructing a stable and high-performance surface. This article proposes the utilization of coupling agent and plasma to synergistically fluorinate boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS), and simulates the principle of water strider floating to construct a biomimetic self-assembly structure on the surface of epoxy resin (EP). The experimental results indicate that the two-dimensional BNNS grafted with fluorinated segments are subjected to a driving force on the surface of EP, which tends to form a flat self-assembled layer on the surface. This biomimetic structure reduces the interfacial energy between water and EP, improving the hydrophobicity of the material. The contact angle reaches 142.7° when the filler content is 0.8%. Meanwhile, the introduction of fluorinated segments increases the energy required for electronic transition and suppresses the electron emission avalanche along the surface flashover. The negative polarity flashover voltage has increased by 43.99% compared with the unmodified EP. In this study, the surface insulation and hydrophobicity of EP are effectively improved with a lower amount of nanofillers, which has the prospect of further reducing costs and improving the modification effect.