Electrical Insulator Materials

Electricity is intertwined with our lives in every sphere, starting from cooking to entertainment. Powering and controlling almost every facet of our lives, electricity can either be harnessed as a medium of good or evil. What makes electricity an interesting phenomenon is what an invisible yet powerful force it is. A mere spark of a wire can shock someone to death or can make a house illuminated. It is this versatility that makes it such a sought-after force.

But if electricity is what powers our smartphones and cars, it is the insulators that allow it to be harnessed safely. In this universe of heat, pressure, and motion, certain substances have the knack to repel charged particles, thus making them potential electrical insulators.

What is an Insulator?

An Insulator is a material that prevents the flow of electrical current on its surface. Made up of different kinds of matter, insulators have different properties that are responsible for their unique abilities. If you have a look at the standard construction of many electrical devices, you’ll notice that most of them require a neutral surface on which their conducting element (usually, metal) sits. This is because the insulating properties of these nonmetallic materials allow the electrical flow to stay in control.

Insulators, in an engineering context, are usually referred to as materials that can be divided into two categories – solid and liquid. These two can be further sorted into different kinds of insulator materials, depending on their composition.

Solid Insulators

Materials or substances with solid construction make two kinds of solid insulators – dielectrics and glass/ceramics. Though the matter that comes under these two heads is made up of different kinds of stuff, they both share the same ability of loss of electrical conductivity while under an electrical charge. These materials are usually present in the form of thin layers on which the conducting layer sits. This way, they create a barrier that allows the current to flow in a single direction only.

Some of the most common solid insulators materials are:

• Glass/Ceramics, for example, silicon dioxide (quartz glass) and rock salt or sodium chloride (used for table salt).
• Plastics that are made of organic materials with complex liquid or gassy structures. Graphite electrodes and thin carbon foils are also used as excellent insulators.
• Copper is the most widely used conductor of electricity in wires, but almost any metal will conduct electricity to some degree. There are several variations of wiring that can be useful: magnet wire, wire coils, and insulated wire.

If we talk about the full list of insulating substances, we’ll find it endless as the plastic industry is the most productive industrial branch of the modern era.

Liquid Insulators

Known for their ability to hold the electrical charge indefinitely, the properties of liquid insulators have made them one of the most widely used substances in the science of electromagnetics. These materials are usually used for making capacitors whose basic working principle lies in the temporary storing of electricity so as to keep the flow smooth. Liquid insulators are also used for making electric and electromagnetic waveguides, which are used for light-speed transmission of information.

Common solid or liquids examples of insulators include:

• Mercury (liquid metal)
• Silicone
• Natural esters, etc.

Ten Examples of Insulators

The most effective electrical insulators to provide a barrier between conductors to keep electric currents under control are:

• Rubber
• Glass
• Pure water
• Oil
• Air
• Diamond
• Dry wood
• Dry cotton
• Plastic
• Asphalt

Other strong insulators include:

• Fiberglass
• Dry paper
• Porcelain
• Ceramics
• Quartz

Understanding Insulators at Molecular Level

Every material at the molecular level has a specific arrangement. And that specific arrangement is also responsible for an insulator’s physical properties. The arrangement of molecules in an insulator is such that heat (temperatures), electricity (charges), and other potentially conductive elements can’t pass through it as easily. The reason for this is the bond between atoms in the chemical compound

Whether an insulator material is solid or liquid, it needs to have a surface that is bonded with other like-molecules. With so many molecules bonded together, the potential space between them is smaller, thereby preventing any flow of electricity. Thus, insulators have high bonding and energy between atoms in their bulk configurations.

How Does an Insulator Work?

Essentially, an insulator works by blocking electrons from moving at its surface. As per the definition, a conductor allows the flow of electricity by having a large number of available and mobile electrons. This allows electrons to gain energy and thereby move through a conductor such as a metal. For example, if a liquid or gas contains ions, then the ions can be made to flow as an electric current, and the material is a conductor. And an insulator is the exact opposite – it physically prevents the flow by having no easily available electrons.

A conductor can be a metal or a non-metal; the difference is that the former allows electric charge to move by interaction, while the latter requires the charge to be removed by friction. The only practical difference between a conductor and an insulator is the ratio of mobile electrons at the surface and the available electrons in bulk.

The arrangement of atomic bonding is such that it makes the electrons of the outermost shell difficult to remove from the molecules. Basically, these molecules present at the surface have their outermost shell’s electrons strongly invested in the bonding network. This makes their mobility very minimal, along with them not being free to move with a charge.

The outermost electrons are the ones that would normally move along with the electric current. But, as said before, their mobility is low, making them useless for a potential flow of electricity.

Why Use Electrical Insulation Materials

1. They Maintain Electrical Integrity

The most prominent feature of electric insulators is their ability to hold the electrical charge – either negative charge or positive charge. Due to this property, insulators can be used as a barrier with which the electrical charges can pass without leaking. Thus, insulators give us the precious ability to transform electricity from a wild, uncontrolled force to a clean, controllable stream of energy that can be used at will.

2. They Make Way for Safer Power Transportation

One of the most important properties of insulators is their ability to block the current so as to provide us the ability to decide how we use it. They are a boon to power companies who wish to transport their power source to the designated places or want to harness power from the power source and send it back in on a conductor.

3. They Help Us in Safety Measures

Safety is always the most important concern in the world of power. Despite our best attempts to cut the accidents caused by electricity, the fact remains that accidents occur. However, these accidents can be minimized by precautionary measures. The first step in that direction is using insulators as a barrier between the power source and people. By using insulators in power plants and transmission towers (they definitely use), we can control the ways in which power is passed on to us.

4. Safer Use

Many appliances and tools of our everyday use make use of insulators in order to operate safely. If we think of electronic ignition systems and, in general, electric cars, then an insulator is used in both places to minimize the risk of damage. Take your hairdryer, for example. If the device had been made without an insulator, then the 800W power of it would have burnt your hair and your skin. However, because of the presence of an integrated insulator, the power is conducted through a small gap in the center. Providing thermal insulation, a transfer of heat and distribution of charge. Thus, by ensuring a safe operation, insulators are a boon for every electrical device used.

Conclusion

Without the use of these insulating materials, diverse systems on the planet would have never been successfully created and functioned. Everything from the electric transmission to electronic ignition and from telephones to computers–every system, from a remote-controlled door to a mobile cell phone, is powered by the presence of insulator materials that make these actions possible.