Issue 11, 2022

Invariant electrical conductivity upon thermal ageing of a crosslinked copolymer blend for high voltage insulation

Abstract

Click chemistry type reactions between polyethylene-based copolymers are a promising and by-product free alternative to peroxide crosslinking of low-density polyethylene, which is widely used as an insulation material for high-voltage power cables. Here, the impact of thermal ageing on the long-term stability of the thermo-mechanical and dielectric properties of a copolymer blend is evaluated that can be cured through a by-product free reaction between the epoxy and carboxylic acid functional groups attached to the polyethylene backbone. It is observed that ageing at 90 °C in air for up to 2500 h does not affect the direct current (DC) electrical conductivity of about 3 × 10−14 S m−1, provided that a suitable antioxidant is added that prevents the thermo-oxidative degradation of the polyethylene backbone. Furthermore, the material maintains its thermo-mechanical properties upon ageing such as a high ductility at room temperature and a stiffness of about 1 MPa above the melting temperature of polyethylene. Evidently, the use of click chemistry type reactions is a promising strategy for the design of new high-voltage insulation materials that can be cured without the formation of by-products.

Graphical abstract: Invariant electrical conductivity upon thermal ageing of a crosslinked copolymer blend for high voltage insulation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Feb 2022
Accepted
19 Apr 2022
First published
10 May 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Adv., 2022,3, 4718-4723

Invariant electrical conductivity upon thermal ageing of a crosslinked copolymer blend for high voltage insulation

S. Kumara, A. M. Pourrahimi, A. Soroudi, X. Xu, T. Hammarström, Y. Serdyuk and C. Müller, Mater. Adv., 2022, 3, 4718 DOI: 10.1039/D2MA00153E

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