Mill Scales Blended Polymer Composites For Electrical Insulation Application

Abstract

Standalone composite films were prepared using modified polyester as a binder and waste iron oxides (mill scales) collected from a steel plant as inorganic filler. The morphology, structure, composition, strength and electrical insulation properties of polymer-iron composites were studied using various analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) test, particle size analysis and electrical insulation test. The mill scales collected from the hot strip rolling mill (HSM) have found to comprise three different phases such as wustite, magnetite and hematite. Composites prepared using mill scales were showing three times higher strength compared to the mother polymer film. Electrical insulation of these composites were found to increase in the range of 55-230 MV/mm with increasing iron oxide content from 0.0125 g to 0.25 g in 2.5 g polymer. These results show a potential research field on the mill scales based composites for various advanced applications in improving insulation behaviour of materials which can withstand at higher temperatures and electrical stresses.