Advances in Polymeric Insulating Materials: Global Progress in These 10 Years

Review article, 2026

This journal, High Voltage, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2026. To commemorate this significant milestone, this comprehensive special review article showcases the latest global research progress and cutting-edge advancements in polymeric insulating materials, a critical component that underpins high-voltage systems and is vital to modern infrastructure. The analysis of the literature on polymer insulating materials produced over the period from around the world was conducted by 11 researchers and presented on a regional basis. Distinctive research can be highlighted in different places, such as materials for power generation and transmission in the Nordic region, charge transport and space charge in France, molecular design in China, and revitalised current integration methods in Japan. The survey reveals that research on winding insulation in rotating machines has been highly active over the past decade due to advancements in power electronics. Particularly notable is the attention given to partial discharges under low pressure related to the development of electric aircraft. Additionally, solid insulation in cables and other components of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems and other emerging themes, such as green, lower-carbon insulation, have attracted interest. Materials such as polypropylene-based blends for HVDC applications, multilayers in aeronautic cables and polyimide-based nanocomposites for windings and power module packaging have been particularly investigated. The importance of research using computer-aided methods, such as numerical analysis, computational science, materials informatics, neural networks, and machine learning, has been steadily growing.