Repairing the micro-scale damage of insulating materials under a strong electric field has long been a highly desired but challenging task. Among all kinds of damage, water tree damage in the insulating materials of electrical equipment and electronic devices working in humid environments has long been considered irreparable. The main challenge is that residual water prevents the healing agent from filling the water tree branch channel. To solve this problem, this work reports a magnetically targeted, water-triggered, self-healing microcapsule (MTWTSH-MC) that makes a breakthrough against water tree damage based on microfluidic techniques. Targeted microcapsules driven by a directional magnetic field are concentrated to the vulnerable area of the insulating materials, exerting very limited effects on the dielectric. When damage breaks the microcapsules, the healing agent releases and quickly fills the damage channel and then reacts with water in the air or in the branch channel of the water tree, achieving solidification of the healing agent and self-healing of the damage channels. In this way, we can realize self-perception, self-triggering, and self-healing for both mechanical damage and water tree damage in insulation materials without any external stimulation.
Keywords: insulation materials; magnetic field targeting; microcapsule; microfluidics technique; self-healing; water tree damage.