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The aim of the research is to prepare a polymer composite material for high-voltage cable insulation purposes. Many researchers have blended a silicone rubber (SiR) and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) at different ratios to identify the composition which possesses excellent electromechanical properties. SiR-EPDM blends in 90:10 and 10:90 ratios were taken up for this study. To these polymer blends, metallic filler titanium dioxide (TiO2) with different densities have been used as the filler materials. The electromechanical performance and the physico-chemical behaviour of SiR-EPDM blends with filler addition were compared with SiR-EPDM blends of the same blend ratio without filler. The electromechanical parameters were measured according to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and ASTM standards. The surface morphology and filler dispersion were examined by the scanning electron microscopy images. The elemental compositions of the samples were obtained from the energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The changes in electromechanical behaviour of the samples were analysed from Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy results. The investigations reveal that 5 wt% of high-density TiO2-filled SiR-rich blend possesses the best electromechanical performance of all prepared samples.

-Polymers are the most commonly used di-electrics because of their reliability, availability, ease of fabrication and cost. The commercial and industrial demand for advanced polymeric materials which are capable of being used in harsh environment is need of the hour. The study of the effect of electron beam irradiation on polymeric materials is an area of rapidly increasing interest. This paper discusses the resultant beneficial effects of electron beam irradiation on the SiR-EPDM blend having 50:50 composition. The changes in mechanical and electrical properties of SiR-EPDM blend which are exposed to three different doses of electron beam radiation namely 5 Mrad, 15 Mrad and 25 Mrad are presented. The irradiated blends are analyzed for their electro-mechanical and physico chemical properties. The electrical changes induced by irradiation are investigated by arc resistance, surface resistivity and volume resistivity measurements as per ASTM standards. The mechanical changes are observed by the measurement of tensile strength and elongation at break. Physico chemical investigation has been done using the FTIR, in order to investigate the irradiation induced chemical changes.