Ac breakdown performance of non-isothermally crystallized polyethylene/silicon nitride nanocomposites

Abstract

Polymer nanocomposites has a huge potential to serve as dielectric materials. These materials were found to have a great capability in withstanding high voltage levels. In nanocomposites development, the breakdown strength of the materials was often reported to be higher, lower or similar, in comparison with the unfilled polymer. Because of this, the breakdown performance of nanocomposites is said to be dependent not only on the polymer/nanofiller combination, but also on the sample preparation techniques. Unfortunately, factors leading to increased or decreased the breakdown strength of nanocomposites are less understood. In this paper, investigation into polyethylene blend systems that contain different amounts of silicon nitrite nanofiller with different non-isothermal crystallization processes was reported. The non-isothermal crystallization techniques were determined by fast, medium and slow cooling rate conditions while preparing the samples. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to characterize the thermal behavior of the polymer nanocomposites. The AC breakdown data showed that the use of different non-isothermal crystallization techniques affected the AC breakdown strength of each material type.