An experimental investigation on degradation performance and decomposition behavior of polytetrafluoroethylene insulator materials

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) has been widely utilized as a kind of insulator material in electrical equipment because of its excellent electrical insulation performance and mechanical properties. The two-electrode gas spark switch has broadened its applications in several new fields, such as the extraction of unconventional gas resources. The actual working conditions set strictly requirements on switch's insulator. According to some existing researches and our previous tests, PTFE seems like an appropriate choice due to the compromise among environment demands, technological specifications and economic cost.