Effect of Water on Polypropylene/Barium Titanate Nanocomposites

In high voltage systems, it is important to have good insulation systems in order to transfer power over a long distance. The use of polymer nanocomposites could make differences in insulation system. However, the presence of water in nanocomposites could negatively affect the performance of nanocomposites as it is found that nanocomposites can absorb more water than unfilled polymers. This study investigated the AC breakdown strength of polypropylene (PP) as polymers blends with 1 wt%, 2 wt% and 5 wt% of barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanofiller and analyzed the effect of water absorption on breakdown strength of polypropylene added with different amount of barium titanate nanofiller. All the samples of nanocomposites were then subjected to water absorption process for certain periods which are 0 days, 10 days, and 20 days to evaluate how much water can be absorbed by the samples and its effect on breakdown strength of nanocomposites. While AC breakdown test was conducted according to standard of American Society for Testing ance Material (ASTM) D149 to correlate the effect of water absorption with the breakdown strength of nanocomposites containing barium titanate.