Decomposition Mechanism of C₅F₁₀O: An Environmentally Friendly Insulation Medium

SF₆, the most widely used electrical-equipment-insulation gas, has serious greenhouse effects. C₅F₁₀O has attracted much attention as an alternative gas in recent two years, but the environmental impact of its decomposition products is unclear. In this work, the decomposition characteristics of C₅F₁₀O were studied based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and density functional theory. We found that the amount of decomposition products of C₅F₁₀O, namely, CF₄, C₂F₆, C₃F₆, C₃F₈, C₄F₁₀, and C₆F₁₄, increased with increased number of discharges. Under a high-energy electric field, the C-C bond of C₅F₁₀O between carbonyl carbon and α-carbon atoms was most likely to break and generate CF₃CO•, C₃F₇• or C₃F₇CO•, CF₃• free radicals. CF₃•, and C₃F₇• free radicals produced by the breakage more easily recombined to form small molecular products. By analyzing the ionization parameters, toxicity, and environmental effects of C₅F₁₀O and its decomposition products, we found that C₅F₁₀O gas mixtures exhibit great decomposition and environmental characteristics with low toxicity, with great potential to replace SF₆.