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C5F10O has been widely studied as a promising environmentally friendly substitute to SF6 in power equipment. Up to now, the environmentally friendly gas insulated equipment developed still uses the same sealing materials as SF6 gas insulation equipment. However, whether these sealing materials are chronically compatible with C5F10O has always been a fundamental problem that perplexes the industry and academia. In this study, a thermally accelerated aging experiment on four rubber materials contacted with C5F10O/N2 was carried out. During the experiment, aged rubbers were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to obtain the surface morphology characteristic and element composition. The gas samples were collected periodically and detected through gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Meanwhile, the degradation of the rubbers’ mechanical property is tested to figure out their long-term compatibility with C5F10O/N2 mixtures. Surface analysis of the rubber samples showed that after thermal accelerated aging, F in the form of C–F bonding and metal fluorides were detected on the surface of the ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM), nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), chloroprene rubber (CR), and methyl vinyl silicone rubber (VMQ), which did not exist in origin samples. The main gaseous decomposition products of C5F10O include CO, CO2, C3F6, and C3F7H, and the concentration when coexisting with rubber is significantly higher than that in the control group. The compression performance of aged rubbers all reduced, and the compression performance of EPDM and NBR is better than that of CR and VMQ. The experimental results proved the incompatibility between C5F10O and these four rubbers, while EPDM and NBR showed less deterioration in compression properties and could be more suitable for the C5F10O power equipment.

The perfluoroketone C5F10O, not only has good environmental compatibility, but also has excellent insulation properties and has the potential to replace SF6 in medium and low voltage switchgear. This paper focuses on the compatibility of C5F10O and its main decomposition products with the copper material inside the equipment and specifically constructs several adsorption models of C5F10O and its main decomposition products on a Cu (1 1 1) surface. The adsorption mechanism was studied from a system structure, electron density distribution and density of states perspective. The results showed that C5F10O mainly adsorbed chemically on the Cu surface through carbonyl oxygen atoms. Its maximum adsorption energy is −24.48 kcal mol−1, with electrons transferring from the copper surface to the adsorbed oxygen atom; and the adsorption energies of the main breakdown products CF4, C2F6, C3F8, C3F6, CF2O, C2F4O and CO2 with the surface are all less than −9.56 kcal mol−1. There is no obvious electron transfer between these decomposition gases and the copper surface, and thus, they belong to physical adsorption; while the adsorption energies of C3F6O, C2F4 and CO in the top, bridge and Hcc sites are respectively −9.661 kcal mol−1, −14.651 kcal mol−1 and −25.489 kcal mol−1, electrons on the copper surface transfer to the oxygen atom of C3F6O and carbon atoms of C2F4 and CO, forming stable chemical bonds, which belong to chemical adsorption. Through further analysis of the electron density of states, it is found that C5F10O and C3F6O bonded to the copper surface mainly by p orbitals on carbonyl oxygen atom and the pseudogaps are 3.2 eV and 2.5 eV. C2F4 and CO bonded to the copper surface by sp hybrid orbitals of carbon atoms, with a pseudogap of about 4 eV. Based on the above analysis, it can be seen that C5F10O and its main decomposition products C3F6O, C2F4 and CO have poor compatibility with metal copper.

C5F10O is a promising insulating medium in the manufacturing of environmentally friendly gas-insulated switchgears (GISs). The fact that it is not known whether it is compatible with sealing materials used in GISs limits its application. In this paper, the deterioration behaviors and mechanism of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) after prolonged exposure to C5F10O are studied. The influence of C5F10O/N2 mixture on the deterioration process of NBR is analyzed through a thermal accelerated ageing experiment. The interaction mechanism between C5F10O and NBR is considered based on microscopic detection and density functional theory. Subsequently, the effect of this interaction on the elasticity of NBR is calculated through molecular dynamics simulations. According to the results, the polymer chain of NBR can slowly react with C5F10O, leading to deterioration of its surface elasticity and loss of inside additives, mainly ZnO and CaCO3. This consequently reduces the compression modulus of NBR. The interaction is related to CF3 radicals formed by the primary decomposition of C5F10O. The molecular structure of NBR will be changed in the molecular dynamics simulations due to the addition reaction with CF3 on NBR’s backbone or branched chains, resulting in changes in Lame constants and a decrease in elastic parameters.

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