Polyethylene-based nanodielectrics containing octaisobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes obtained by solution blending in xylene

Nanodielectrics have attracted the attention of many scientists and industrials as they may present superior dielectric properties compared to conventional dielectrics. Polyhedral Oligomeric SilSesquioxanes (POSS) is a type of filler of great interest in the field of nanodielectrics. In this work, xylene solution blending was used to produce Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) based nanodielectrics containing 1 wt% and 5 wt% Octaisobutyl POSS (OibPOSS). The resulting dielectrics were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, broadband dielectric spectroscopy and progressive-stress breakdown tests. The results showed that (i) solution blending in xylene seemed to be an effective method to disperse OibPOSS within LDPE in nano to micron sizes and (ii) the resulting dielectrics presented dielectric properties similar to those of LDPE.