China to use nano-material to improve power grid safety

China will further industrialize the use of a new material developed with the help of nanotechnology to ensure the safety of its power grids, according to a Wednesday statement from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNT).

The NCNT said the material has undergone strict testing and technical evaluations and will be used to solve the problem of flashover, a phenomenon in which energized conductors inadvertently come into contact with other conductors or a grounded surface. Flashover has been a persistent safety problem in China's power grids.

Other projects based around the use of the new material are in the research phase and will eventually be applied to China's power grids on a large scale, the NCNT said.

The material was created in 2009 after three years of research by the NCNT, the Institute of Process Engineering under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China Electric Power Research Institute.