Anti-thermal aging properties of low-density polyethylene-based nanocomposites

This paper reports on the anti-thermal aging ability enhanced by nanoparticles for polyethylene based nanocomposites. Nanocomposites with concentration of 1 wt% were prepared by using silicon dioxide (SiO ₂ ), zinc oxide (ZnO) and magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles. Fourier-transform infrared spectra showed that the low-density polyethylene (LDPE)/MgO nanocomposites had the best anti-thermal aging ability in comparison with the LDPE/SiO ₂ nanocomposites, which had the worst anti-thermal aging ability. Subsequently the ability of nanocomposites to ensure the electrical properties was examined by dielectric properties and space charge distribution. The results show that LDPE/MgO and LDPE/ZnO nanocomposites retained the value and the relaxation peaks of permittivity to a certain extent after thermal aging. All of the nanocomposites presented the ability for suppression of space charge accumulation after thermal aging compared with neat LDPE with the observation of obvious homocharges accumulated near electrodes. We find that the interface between nanoparticles and matrix may be the reason for the anti-thermal aging ability exhibited by the nanocomposites.