Applications of nanotechnology in high voltage power equipment - Nanodielectrics (invited talk)

The concept of nanotechnology has been with us for a while and it represents a group of emerging technologies in which the structure of matter is controlled at the nanometer scale to produce novel materials and devices that have useful and unique properties. Due to extensive research in the last twenty years nanotechnology has found various applications in medicine, energy, aerospace, information/communication and construction etc. This paper covers a less known area of application of nanotechnology, nanodielectrics – nanotechnology application in high voltage power equipment. The term of nanodielectrics was first proposed by Prof. Lewis in his very first paper on nanometric dielectrics in 1994 [1]. Since then nanodielectric materials have been a popular subject within the electrical sector. The number of publications on the topic increases significantly over the years and some of the key papers will be reviewed to highlight the progress concerning nanodielectric materials, including their characterisation and possible mechanisms of operation. In addition the paper also presents some of our research achievements in nanodielectric research. Compared with the other areas of nanotechnology research, it is useful to understand difficult tasks ahead before achieving the full potential that nanodielectrics can offer. In the last section of the paper a list of challenges for nanodielectric research is given