Improvement in the charge dissipation performance of epoxy resin composites by incorporating amino-modified boron nitride nanosheets

• Introduction of amino modified boron nitride nanosheets into epoxy resin. • Uniform filler dispersion and good filler-matrix compatibility. • Improved charge dissipation performance by changing the trap characteristics. To restrain the surface charge accumulation of the epoxy resin (EP) applied in the high-voltage power field, one of the efficient methods is to dissipate the charges on the EP surface by incorporating inorganic filler. In this work, we employed amine-functionalized boron nitride nanosheets (mBNNS) based on liquid-phase exfoliation and urea modification to prepare EP composites. Owing to the existence of –NH 2 groups on the exfoliated mBNNS platelets, the uniform filler dispersion and good filler-matrix compatibility were achieved in the EP composites. As compared to the pure EP, the EP/mBNNS composites exhibited better charge dissipation performance, comparable dielectric constant and higher breakdown strength. The best charge dissipation performance was achieved in the EP composite by adding only 1.0 wt% mBNNS with the surface potential decreased by 65.5% in 1200 s, much higher than pure EP (28.1%).