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Abstract
Recently, many studies have been conducted on the dielectric properties of Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites and produced different results. However, the composition of LDPE polymer and boron nitride (BN) as nanofiller has neither been well understood nor producing a convenient result. Similarly, the dielectric spectroscopy measured at "sub-hertz" frequency has been of little interest among researchers since it is often influenced by "conduction-like" effect. This research identified the dielectric properties of LDPE nanocomposites filled with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanofillers by using dielectric spectroscopy technique. The dielectric loss and relative permittivity for three different filler concentrations were investigated under "sub-hertz" frequency ranges at room temperature. The cylindrical electrode with guard ring configuration was used to conduct the experiment, in accordance to the ASTM D150 standard. The results revealed that 5 wt% filled polymer has lower loss tangent and permittivity compared to the unfilled polymer, due to the strong interaction between nano-particle and the polymer. This strong interaction is believed to limit the movement of the polymer chain. The decrease in loss tangent also indicates lower quasi-DC at low frequency. However, further increase in the filler loading has recorded an increment in the value of permittivity and loss tangent. This higher effective permittivity is mainly due to the influence of the filler permittivity
Keywords: permittivity, tangent delta, low density polyethylene (LDPE), boron nitride (BN) nanofillers, dielectric spectroscopy
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(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)
1.Introduction
Since the 1940s, polymeric insulators had been used instead of glass and ceramic insulators [1]. Many experiments have been conducted in the area of polymer nanocomposites in order to enhance the polymer properties and their utility over the past two decades [2]. In the early 1990, true nylon-6-clay thermoplastic nanocomposite technology had been patented by Toyota research. After one year, Toyota Motor Corporation started to implement the work by using nylon-6-clay nanocomposite to fabricate timing belt covers for their cars. It was the first commercialization of polymer nanocomposites in the industry [3].
Polymer nanocomposites are defined as polymers consist of nanometer size fillers with several weight percentages, which are homogeneously dispersed in the polymer matrix [4]. The key to diversify polymer properties is represented by the conversion of bulk polymer into interfacial...