No abstract

Dielectric elastomer (DE) technology are used in several applications for example generator, sensor and actuator. One of the major factors that limits the DE performance is premature electrical breakdown. Compositing is the example that have been reported to increase the breakdown strength. In this study polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film will be incorporated with two different fillers which are titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO). Both metal oxides will be calcined up to 300°C before they are added to the PDMS elastomer as fillers. The results show that the calcined TiO2 and ZnO that incorporated in PDMS films show significant increase of breakdown strengths. Meanwhile, the calcined TiO2 PDMS film give higher breakdown strength as comparison to the calcined ZnO counterpart.

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.