Investigation on the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of silicone rubber nanocomposites

Addition of alumina nano particles to silicone rubber (SR) has shown a significant improvement in electrical, mechanical and thermal properties of the SR nanocomposites. Static contact angle and water droplet-initiated corona inception voltage exhibited a marginal change on inclusion of nano alumina into SR matrix. Alumina filler improved the corona ageing resistance of the composites; however, a marginal reduction in the rate of hydrophobicity recovery is observed. Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy proved as an effective tool to rank the performance of the SR nano composites. Variation of crater depth with energy of laser pulse and number of laser pulses follows the exponential relation. Plasma temperature calculated by optical emission spectroscopy is in line with the amount of damage caused to the surface of the specimen by water droplet-initiated discharge. Dielectric response spectroscopic studies indicate that inclusion of nano fillers has resulted in lower interfacial polarization and lower imaginary permittivity. It is observed through dynamic mechanical analysis that the composites have higher storage modulus and the activation energy compared to base SR.