LDPE/tio2 nanocomposites: effect of poss on structure and dielectric properties

In this paper, titanium dioxide was selected as a model to show the effect of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) on dispersion improvement of metal oxide nanoparticles, TiO
₂
and to understand the relationship between the structure and the final dielectric properties of LDPE/TiO
₂
nanocomposites. A microscopic observation by AFM showed that the TiO
₂
nanoparticle treated with the POSS were better dispersed in the polymer matrix as compared to untreated TiO
₂
. Furthermore, it was observed that the modification of the surface of TiO
₂
by the POSS decreased the dielectric loss without changing the dielectric breakdown of LDPE/TiO
₂
nanocomposites. The improved dielectric properties could be related to the good dispersion of the nanoparticles.