Effect of water on breakdown characteristics of polyethylene/silicon nitride nanocomposites

In developing future electrical networks, one of the important aspects to transfer efficient high power over a long distance is the use of proper insulating materials. The addition of nanofillers into polymers has provided significant improvements on the electrical properties including breakdown characteristics. This project seeks to determine the effect of water on the breakdown strength of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) when added with varying amounts of silicon nitride as nanofiller. This can be achieved by first preparing the samples using two roll mill machine prior to heat compressing using hot pressed machine. The samples were then immersed in distilled water for a certain time interval to determine the effect of water absorption. Moreover, in order to determine the effect of water absorption on breakdown characteristics, DC breakdown test was conducted before and after samples undergo absorption of water process following the standard of ASTM D149. The addition of nanofiller had shown to significantly alter the water absorption behavior of the composite material, thus affecting the breakdown characteristics of the nanocomposite