Epoxy/BaTiO3 Nanocomposites: Tunable Electrical Conductivity and Engineering-Applicable Insulation, Thermal, and Mechanical Properties

Epoxy/BaTiO3 nanocomposites with varying filler contents of BaTiO3 were prepared and characterized for flexible DC insulation applications such as IGBT. Their breakdown strength under DC, AC, and 10 kHz voltage, tensile properties, dielectric response, surface potential decay, temperature-/electric field-dependent conductance, and field grading capability were investigated. Results show that loading BaTiO3 increases the dielectric constant and alters loss behavior due to enhanced interfacial polarization and modified charge transport. However, breakdown and tensile strengths decrease monotonically with filler content, which is attributed to interfacial heterogeneity and local field distortion. Shallow-trap density rises while trap energy level declines with higher BaTiO3 loading, promoting charge trapping–detrapping. Electrical conductivity of epoxy/BaTiO3 nanocomposites increases with both electric field and temperature, while simulation of electric field distribution in the triple point of IGBT encapsulation reveals that the increased permittivity and conductivity with BaTiO3 content can reduce the maximum local electric field by up to 6.7% and 13.7% for the two kinds of typical structure of triple points, respectively. Thus, nano-BaTiO3 effectively tailors dielectric response and charge transport but introduces interfacial complexity that degrades breakdown and mechanical performance. However, a trade-off between intrinsic insulation, tensile strength, and field grading capability can be obtained. This work offers experimental insights for designing epoxy-based encapsulation materials with tunable electrical properties for flexible DC systems.