Effect of electrode surface topology on charge injection characteristics in dielectric liquids: An experimental study

Micro/nano scale features are incorporated on an electrode surface to study its effect on the charge injection characteristics in HFE7100. These features are generated on a smooth surface by chemical etching of the electrodes or through electrophoretic deposition of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). The threshold voltage for charge injection was reduced by a factor of 5 and 2 for the SWCNT and etched electrodes respectively, when compared to the smooth electrode configuration. The presence of sharp features on the surface with high aspect ratio had a more dominant effect on enhancing the charge injection than the roughness.