Recyclable power cable comprising a blend of slow-crystallized polyethylenes

Crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) has a successful history as a cable insulation material. Nevertheless, in recent years, as environmental awareness has grown, concerns about the ease with which it can be recycled have emerged. Although technologies have been developed for XLPE recycling, this report concentrates instead on the development of a thermoplastic alternative. Specifically, a 20 : 80 blend of high density and low density polyethylene (HDPE : LDPE) was selected and subjected to a non-isothermal crystallization procedure. It was found that, provided the cooling rate falls between 0.5 and 10 K min-
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, the blend exhibits superior breakdown strengths and high temperature mechanical stiffness compared to XLPE. A trial cable was then extruded from this blend using such a cooling rate. The breakdown behavior of the morphologically-designed cable was finally compared with that of LDPE and XLPE reference systems.