Moisture Absorption Characteristics of Nanoparticle-Doped Silicone Rubber and Its Influence Mechanism on Electrical Properties

To further explore the long-term stability of nano-dielectrics, experiments were carried out to investigate the moisture absorption characteristics and electrical properties of silicone rubber (SiR) doped with different inorganic nanoparticles. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is utilized to research the moisture absorption characteristics including mass fraction and binding forms. The trap depth and electron orbitals are calculated by density functional theory to explain the influence mechanism of water molecules on SiR. It is found that the addition of nanoparticles will increase the moisture content of SiR. Additionally, the nano-TiO(2)-doped SiR absorbs more water and binds with water relatively more loosely than nano-Al(2)O(3). There is a degradation of space charge inhibition capability and breakdown strength after moisture absorption, which might be explained by shallow traps brought by water molecules and the narrowed forbidden bandwidth of SiR.