scholarly journals Water-Tree Resistant Characteristics of Crosslinker-Modified-SiO2/XLPE Nanocomposites

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1398
Author(s):  
Yong-Qi Zhang ◽  
Xuan Wang ◽  
Ping-Lan Yu ◽  
Wei-Feng Sun

Trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) as a photoactive crosslinker is grafted onto hydrophobic nanosilica surface through click chemical reactions of mercapto double bonds to prepare the functionalized nanoparticles (TMPTA-s-SiO2), which are used to develop TMPTA-s-SiO2/XLPE nanocomposites with improvements in mechanical strength and electrical resistance. The expedited aging experiments of water-tree growth are performed with a water-knife electrode and analyzed in consistence with the mechanical performances evaluated by means of dynamic thermo-mechanical analysis (DMA) and tensile stress–strain characteristics. Due to the dense cross-linking network of polyethylene molecular chains formed on the TMPTA-modified surfaces of SiO2 nanofillers, TMPTA-s-SiO2 nanofillers are chemically introduced into XLPE matrix to acquire higher crosslinking degree and connection strength in the amorphous regions between polyethylene lamellae, accounting for the higher water-tree resistance and ameliorated mechanical performances, compared with pure XLPE and neat-SiO2/XLPE nanocomposite. Hydrophilic TMPTA molecules grafted on the nano-SiO2 surface can inhibit the condensation of water molecules into water micro-beads at insulation defects, thus attenuating the damage of water micro-beads to polyethylene configurations under alternating electric fields and thus restricting water-tree growth in amorphous regions. The intensified interfaces between TMPTA-s-SiO2 nanofillers and XLPE matrix limit the segment motions of polyethylene molecular chains and resist the diffusion of water molecules in XLPE amorphous regions, which further contributes to the excellent water-tree resistance of TMPTA-s-SiO2/XLPE nanocomposites.

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Sun ◽  
Junqi Chen ◽  
Hong Zhao ◽  
Weifeng Sun ◽  
Yinsheng Chen ◽  
...  

The water tree resistance of crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) initiated by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation technique is investigated through a water blade electrode method, and the effects of the mechanism of UV irradiation crosslinking on inhibiting water tree growth are revealed with dynamic thermomechanical analysis (DMA). The accelerated water tree aging experiment shows that UV irradiation crosslinking inhibits the growth rate of water trees, and the water tree length and width is reduced with the increase of the crosslinking degree of XLPE. The DMA result demonstrates that the molecular activity of the amorphous phase in XLPE as represented by polyethylene β-relaxation is gradually intensified with the increase of the crosslinking reaction. Combined with the fatigue mechanism of water tree growth in semi-crystalline polymers, it is suggested that the UV irradiation crosslinking reaction can significantly improve the anti-water-tree performance of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE). The crosslinking bond in the amorphous phase of UV-photoinitiated crosslinking polyethylene can produce a large number of cross-connected polymer chains, by which the length of fiber is obviously increased, leading to an reduced force from the micro-water beads onto the crack tip and thus decreasing the rate of the material being destroyed by micro-water beads.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (18) ◽  
pp. 4147
Author(s):  
Jun-Qi Chen ◽  
Xuan Wang ◽  
Wei-Feng Sun ◽  
Hong Zhao

The water-resistant characteristics of ultraviolet crosslinked polyethylene (UV-XLPE) are investigated specially for the dependence on the hydrophilicities of auxiliary crosslinkers, which is significant to develop high-voltage insulating cable materials. As auxiliary crosslinking agents of polyethylene, triallyl isocyanurate (TAIC), trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA), and N,N′-m-phenylenedimaleimide (HAV2) are individually adopted to prepared XLPE materials with the UV-initiation crosslinking technique, for the study of water-tree resistance through the accelerating aging experiments with water blade electrode. The stress–strain characteristics and dynamic viscoelastic properties of UV-XLPE are tested by the electronic tension machine and dynamic thermomechanical analyzer. Monte Carlo molecular simulation is used to calculate the interaction parameters and mixing energy of crosslinker/water binary systems to analyze the compatibility between water and crosslinker molecules. Water-tree experiments verify that XLPE-TAIC represents the highest ability to inhibit the growth of water-trees, while XLPE-HAV2 shows the lowest resistance to water-trees. The stress–strain and viscoelastic properties show that the concentration of molecular chains connecting the adjacent lamellae in amorphous phase of XLPE-HAV2 is significantly higher than that of XLPE-TAIC and XLPE-TMPTMA. The molecular simulation results demonstrate that TAIC/water and TMPTMA/water binary systems possess a higher hydrophilicity than that of HAV2/water, as manifested by their lower interaction parameters and mixing free energies. The auxiliary crosslinkers can not only increase the molecular density of amorphous polyethylene between lamellae to inhibit water-tree growth, but also prevent water molecules at insulation defects from agglomerating into micro-water beads by increasing the hydrophilicity of auxiliary crosslinkers, which will evidently reduce the damage of micro-water beads on the amorphous phase in UV-XLPE. The better compatibility of TAIC and water molecules is the dominant reason accounting for the excellent water resistance of XLPE-TAIC.


2001 ◽  
Vol 87 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Gray ◽  
Oleg A. Mornev ◽  
José Jalife ◽  
Oleg V. Aslanidi ◽  
Arkady M. Pertsov

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 394
Author(s):  
Simone Krueger ◽  
Alexander Riess ◽  
Anika Jonitz-Heincke ◽  
Alina Weizel ◽  
Anika Seyfarth ◽  
...  

In cell-based therapies for cartilage lesions, the main problem is still the formation of fibrous cartilage, caused by underlying de-differentiation processes ex vivo. Biophysical stimulation is a promising approach to optimize cell-based procedures and to adapt them more closely to physiological conditions. The occurrence of mechano-electrical transduction phenomena within cartilage tissue is physiological and based on streaming and diffusion potentials. The application of exogenous electric fields can be used to mimic endogenous fields and, thus, support the differentiation of chondrocytes in vitro. For this purpose, we have developed a new device for electrical stimulation of chondrocytes, which operates on the basis of capacitive coupling of alternating electric fields. The reusable and sterilizable stimulation device allows the simultaneous use of 12 cavities with independently applicable fields using only one main supply. The first parameter settings for the stimulation of human non-degenerative chondrocytes, seeded on collagen type I elastin-based scaffolds, were derived from numerical electric field simulations. Our first results suggest that applied alternating electric fields induce chondrogenic re-differentiation at the gene and especially at the protein level of human de-differentiated chondrocytes in a frequency-dependent manner. In future studies, further parameter optimizations will be performed to improve the differentiation capacity of human cartilage cells.


Polymers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilona Pleşa ◽  
Petru Noţingher ◽  
Cristina Stancu ◽  
Frank Wiesbrock ◽  
Sandra Schlögl

This review represents a comprehensive study of nanocomposites for power cables insulations based on thermoplastic polymers such as polyethylene congeners like LDPE, HDPE and XLPE, which is complemented by original results. Particular focus lies on the structure-property relationships of nanocomposites and the materials’ design with the corresponding electrical properties. The critical factors, which contribute to the degradation or improvement of the electrical performance of such cable insulations, are discussed in detail; in particular, properties such as electrical conductivity, relative permittivity, dielectric losses, partial discharges, space charge, electrical and water tree resistance behavior and electric breakdown of such nanocomposites based on thermoplastic polymers are described and referred to the composites’ structures. This review is motivated by the fact that the development of polymer nanocomposites for power cables insulation is based on understanding more closely the aging mechanisms and the behavior of nanocomposites under operating stresses.


2012 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhong-Qiang Liu ◽  
Guang-Cai Zhang ◽  
Ying-Jun Li ◽  
Su-Rong Jiang

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 049901
Author(s):  
Dimitris J Panagopoulos ◽  
Andreas Karabarbounis ◽  
Lukas H Margaritis

MRS Bulletin ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Agulló-López

There is a growing demand for nonlinear optical materials for a variety of applications—lasers and coherent sources, electrooptic devices, communication technologies, and optical processors and computers. Nonlinear optics is a vast field requiring materials with diverse performance features. Photorefractive (PR) materials, which experience a change in the refractive index under the effect of inhomogeneous illumination, constitute a relevant branch of the field. They behave as third-order nonlinear materials, which can be considered, in general, as photorefractive. However, the materials more commonly designated as photorefractives involve a charge-transport-induced nonlinearity, and it is these materials which are the object of this issue of the MRS Bulletin.At variance with conventional (often designated as Kerr) nonlinear materials, photorefractives are sensitive not to the local light intensity but to its spatial variation; i.e., they are nonlocal materials. This feature makes them more complicated to deal with than their conventional counterparts, since a χ(3) susceptibility cannot be properly defined (except as a k-dependent function). On the other hand, this sensitivity gives them some unique and interesting features. In particular, an interference light pattern illuminating the crystal and the generated index grating are phase-shifted, leading to remarkable beam coupling and amplification effects. The coupling gain can be markedly enhanced by applying alternating electric fields or by oscillating the interference fringes with a piezoelectric mirror. Efficient image amplifiers have been made using this effect.


1983 ◽  
Vol PER-3 (7) ◽  
pp. 33-33
Author(s):  
Jarle Sletbak ◽  
Erling Ildstad

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document