Zinc Oxide Filler Effect on Dissipation Factor of High-Density Polyethylene

Abstract

Polymer Nano-composites (PNC) are efficient materials that consist of polymer matrix and nanoparticles to create a new generation with excellent properties. In this paper a PNC filler-based Zinc oxide (ZnO) is used for enhancing the dissipation factor (DF) or Tan δ of the obtained polymer compared to the individual polymer material and improving the electrical properties of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The electrical properties of HDPE are investigated under different concentrations of zinc oxide including (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 wt.%) as well as under different conditions including the variations of temperature (25-150 Celsius) and frequencies (0.1 kHz to 1 MHz). The simulation results reveal that inclusion Zinc oxide as filler can improve the electrical properties of HDPE. In addition to that the minimum value of dissipation factor and the best electrical properties can be obtained at concentration 10 % loading compared to the other concentration levels. Curve fitting solutions were performed to determine the best fit for the experimental results. African Vultures Optimization Algorithm (AVOA) was used to determine the optimal value of zinc oxide filler percentage to obtain the best optimal value of dissipation factor.