Dielectric response and breakdown strength improvement of LDPE/TiO2 nanocomposites by using POSS as compatibilizing agent

In this paper, two types of nanocomposites were prepared by ball milling techniquee The first type consists of 5% untreated titanium dioxide (TiO
₂
) incorporated into LDPE. For the second one, 5% commercial TiO
₂
chemically treated with trisilanol phenyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (TSP-POSS) as dispersant was ball-milled with LDPE. The microscopic observation by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) showed a better dispersion into polymer matrix of the TiO
₂
treated with POSS as compared to untreated TiO
₂
. It was found that LDPE/treated TiO
₂
nanocomposite exhibited lower relative permittivity and dielectric losses compared to LDPE/untreated TiO
₂
. The surface treatment of LDPE/TiO
₂
by TSP-POSS also affects the dielectric strength. The LDPE/treated TiO
₂
revealed highest breakdown strength of 82 kV/mm, compared to 78 kV/mm and 71 kV/mm of LDPE neat and LDPE/untreated TiO
₂
, respectively.