A study on the production and preparation of a new polymer nanocomposite as a light and effective thermal insulation in the industry

Roham Afshari¹

1) Master of Mechanical Engineering, Composite major, Materials and Manufacturing Technology Complex, Malik Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran,

Publication : International Congress on Science, engineering & New Technologies(secongress.com/1st)
Abstract :
Polymer nanocomposites (PNC) consist of a polymer or copolymer having nanoparticles or nanofillers dispersed in the polymer matrix. These may be of different shape (e.g., platelets, fibers, spheroids), but at least one dimension must be in the range of 1–50 nm. These PNC s belong to the category of multi-phase systems (MPS, viz. blends, composites, and foams) that consume nearly 95% of plastics production. These systems require controlled mixing/compounding, stabilization of the achieved dispersion, orientation of the dispersed phase, and the compounding strategies for all MPS, including PNC, are similar. The transition from micro- to nano-particles lead to change in its physical as well as chemical properties. Thermoplastic polyolefins, such as polyethylene (PE), are traditionally one of the most widely used polymer classes with applications in the electric industry, and their nanocomposites have caught the interest of researchers. The linear filler is shown to be beneficial in decreasing the charge injection and hindering the formation of charge packs. So, we demonstrate a novel composite with excellent properties. The low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composite with aligned aluminum oxide (Al2O3) fiber has been prepared in electric field conditions. The direction of the Al2O3 fiber was parallel to the thickness direction of the LDPE composite. The breakdown strength of the Al2O3/LDPE composite with 0.2% aligned Al2O3 fiber was 498 kV/mm, which is higher than other fillers induced. The aligned Al2O3 fiber has effect on preventing accumulation of space charge and reducing the amount of free electron in the material. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the LDPE composite (0.22 W/m·K) was increased to 0.85 W/m·K when doped with 0.5 wt% aligned Al2O3 fiber. The present structure provides a new possibility for mass new nanocomposites with excellent microstructures and remarkable functionality.
Keywords : thermal conductivity Al2O3/LDPE composites electrical properties space charge.