Subventions et des contributions :

Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2019-2020).

Polymer-based materials are promising for use in insulators for electrical power lines as an alternative tox000D
current glass or ceramic designs. The plastic structures can offer increased electrical resistance, lowerx000D
manufacturing and installation cost, and be of lighter weight. However, there is still work to be done in termsx000D
of formulating the material so that it can withstand the extreme summer and winter conditions of Canadianx000D
climates. A large challenge in this area is chemical resistance to de-icing agents. To date, testing of somex000D
materials such as silicone and EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) rubbers has been carried out, andx000D
some general findings exist, but it is remains to be understood how the materials respond to weathering underx000D
their electrical load. In this proposal, a combination of surface-specific spectroscopy, microscopy, andx000D
macroscopic measurements of the hydrophobicity will be carried out. The aim is to identify which materialsx000D
perform the best under specific sets of chemical and physical conditions, and to be able to provide somex000D
molecular-level explanation for any observed degradation in material performance. At the same time, thisx000D
project provides many opportunities for training the next generation of scientists in advanced chemicalx000D
structure and materials characterization methods.