Electric Breakdown in n-Hexane

Abstract

ALTHOUGH the phenomena of breakdown and conduction in liquid insulants have received considerable attention, the degree of understanding that has been achieved is limited, a fact illustrated by the co-existence of several widely differing models for the breakdown process. The main reasons for this failure are the absence of a satisfactory theory of the bulk liquid or the metal–liquid interface and also the difficulty of the experimental techniques involved. Some of the hitherto uncontrolled experimental variables have only recently been revealed, an important one being the oxygen content of the liquid¹.