Electrical Characteristics of Polypropylene Mixed with Natural Nanoclay.

Huseyin Hiziroglu,Iosif Shkolnik

doi:10.3390/polym10090942

Abstract

Polypropylene has been used in radio-frequency capacitors and has also started to be employed in cables as insulation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the electrical properties of polypropylene filled with natural clay as a nano-material. Polypropylene samples having 0%, 2% and 6% natural clay by weight were exposed to 60-Hz sinusoidal voltages at two different rates of rise. The breakdown voltage of each sample was recorded at these different ramp rates. Also, the Root-mean-squared (rms) current was measured as the voltage was increased across the test samples. The important findings of this study were (a) the breakdown strength of the natural nanoclay-filled polypropylene was higher than the unfilled polypropylene, and the optimum concentration of nanoclay appeared to be 2% by weight; (b) the current density as a function of the electric-field intensity indicated a non-linear behavior with saturation, and the saturation onset took place at a higher electric-field intensity in nanoclay-filled polypropylene, wherein 2% nanoclay seemed to be the optimum concentration as well for the onset electric field of saturation.

Highlights

Nano-particles have found a wide variety of applications in order to modify the properties of polymer dielectrics
Since the beginning of this millennium, studies into nanocomposites with polymer-based materials for electrical applications as dielectrics and insulators have been intensified considerably in order to better understand various phenomena in these materials so that their effective usage will be possible in numerous applications [1]
Results breakdown tests were performed on 5 different samples with the same nanofiller content

Summary

Introduction

Nano-particles have found a wide variety of applications in order to modify the properties of polymer dielectrics. It is known that the addition of nano-particles to a polymer seems to enhance the overall properties of the composite [1] In such a nanocomposite, interfaces between two phases, one being a nanoparticle and the other being the host polymer, play a significant role [2] in its properties. Interfaces between two phases, one being a nanoparticle and the other being the host polymer, play a significant role [2] in its properties This is primarily due to the fact that the volume of the interfaces dominates the whole volume of the composite as the size of the nanoparticle decreases [2]. Polymeric materials used in cables in high-voltage applications are primarily various versions of polyethylene (PE), with cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) being one of the most widely used [4]

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Discussion

Conclusion