Highly electrically conductive polyether composites with modified graphene

• Published in: Materials research express
• Main Authors: Hu, Faping, Nie, Yongjie, Liu, Ronghai, Cao, Jinmei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 14-11-2024
• ISSN: 2053-1591; 2053-1591
• DOI: 10.1088/2053-1591/ad92f3

With the continuous improvement of voltage level, power level and capacity level of high-voltage transmission and substation equipment, the problem of power loss and equipment failure caused by abnormal heating of electrical contact parts is becoming increasingly serious. To address this problem, graphite was exfoliated into thin layers of graphene by liquid-phase mechanical exfo-liation, ultrasonic dispersion and spray-drying techniques, and it was incorporated into polyether composites to enhance its electrical conductivity. The effect of graphene content on the electrical conductivity, high temperature resistance, wear reduction and anti-wear properties of polyether composites was investigated. The results indicated that when graphene is added at 4 wt%, the high-temperature resistance of the graphene-polyether composite (GPC) is improved to 330 °C, and the volume resistivity is reduced to 6.5×103 Ω-cm. Moreover, the contact resistance coefficient of the GPC is reduced to 0.87 and 0.73 after it is coated on the Cu rows and the Al rows, respectively, which effectively enhances the electrical conductivity of the electrical contact area. In addition, the best improvement in friction reduction and anti-wear properties was obtained for the polyether composites from this formulation. Above all, the GPC has excellent electrical conductivity, high-temperature resistance, wear reduction and anti-wear properties, which can substantially improve the quality of the electrical connection when applied to the electrical contact tips.