Repurposing Poly(3-hexylthiophene) as a Conductivity-Reducing Additive for Polyethylene-Based High-Voltage Insulation

Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is found to be a highly effective conductivity-reducing additive for low-density polyethylene (LDPE), which introduces a new application area to the field of conjugated polymers. Additives that reduce the direct-current (DC) electrical conductivity of an insulation material at high electric fields have gained a lot of research interest because they may facilitate the design of more efficient high-voltage direct-current power cables. An ultralow concentration of regio-regular P3HT of 0.0005 wt% is found to reduce the DC conductivity of LDPE threefold, which translates into the highest efficiency reported for any conductivity-reducing additive to date. The here-established approach, i.e., the use of a conjugated polymer as a mere additive, may boost demand in absolute terms beyond the quantities needed for thin-film electronics, which would turn organic semiconductors from a niche product into commodity chemicals

The compensatory effect of regular exercise on long-term memory impairment in sleep deprived female rats

Previous studies have been shown that exercise can improve short-term spatial learning, memory and synaptic plasticity impairments in sleep deprived female rats. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of treadmill exercise on sleep deprivation (SD) induced impairment in hippocampal dependent long-term memory in female rats. Intact and ovariectomized female rats were used in the current study. Exercise protocol was 4 weeks treadmill running. Twenty four hour SD was induced by using multiple platform apparatus after learning phase. Spatial learning and long-term memory was examined by using the Morris Water Maze (MWM) test. Our results indicated that sleep deprivation impaired long term memory in the intact and ovariectomized female rats, regardless of reproductive status (p<0.05) and treadmill exercise compensated this impairment (p<0.05). In conclusion the results of the current study confirmed the negative effect of SD on cognitive functions and regular exercise seems to protect rats from these factors, however more investigations need to be done

Effects of ageing conditions on degradation of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber filled with heat-treated ZnO star-shaped particles in rapeseed biodiesel

The degradation of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) after exposure to biodiesel at different oxygen partial pressures in an automated ageing equipment at 80 °C, and in a high-pressure autoclave at 150 °C was studied. The oxidation of biodiesel was promoted by an increase in oxygen concentration, resulting in a larger uptake of fuel in the rubber due to internal cavitation, a greater decrease in the strain-at-break of NBR due to the coalescence of cavity, and a faster increase in the crosslinking density and carbonyl index due to the promotion of the oxidation of NBR. During the high-temperature autoclave ageing, less fuel was absorbed in the rubber, because the formation of hydroperoxides and acids was impeded. The extensibility of NBR aged in the autoclave decreased only slightly due to the cleavage of rubber chains by the biodiesel attack. The degradation of NBR in the absence of carbon black was explained as being due to oxidative crosslinking. The dissolution of ZnO crystals in the acidic components of biodiesel was retarded by removing the inter-particle porosity and surface defects through heat treating star-shaped ZnO particles. The rubber containing heat-treated ZnO particles swelled less in biodiesel than a NBR filled with commercial ZnO nanoparticles, and showed a smaller decrease in the strain-at-break and less oxidative crosslinking.QC 20170228</p

Polyethylene nanocomposites for the next generation of ultra-low transmission-loss HVDC cables: insulations containing moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles

The use of MgO nanoparticles in polyethylene for cable insulation has attracted considerable interest, although in humid media the surface regions of the nanoparticles undergo a conversion to a hydroxide phase. A facile method to obtain MgO nanoparticles with a large surface area and remarkable inertness to humidity is presented. The method involves (a) low temperature (400 \ub0C) thermal decomposition of Mg(OH)2, (b) a silicone oxide coating to conceal the nanoparticles and prevent interparticle sintering upon exposure to high temperatures, and (c) heat treatment at 1000 \ub0C. The formation of the hydroxide phase on these silicone oxide-coated MgO nanoparticles after extended exposure to humid air was assessed by thermogravimetry, infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The nanoparticles showed essentially no sign of any hydroxide phase compared to particles prepared by the conventional single-step thermal decomposition of Mg(OH)2. The moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles showed improved dispersion and interfacial adhesion in the LDPE matrix with smaller nanosized particle clusters compared with conventionally prepared MgO. The addition of 1 wt % moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles was sufficient to decrease the conductivity of polyethylene 30 times. The reduction in conductivity is discussed in terms of defect concentration on the surface of the moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles at the polymer/nanoparticle interface

Polyethylene nanocomposites for the next generation of ultra-low transmission-loss HVDC cables: insulations containing moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles

The use of MgO nanoparticles in polyethylene for cable insulation has attracted considerable interest, although in humid media the surface regions of the nanoparticles undergo a conversion to a hydroxide phase. A facile method to obtain MgO nanoparticles with a large surface area and remarkable inertness to humidity is presented. The method involves (a) low temperature (400 \ub0C) thermal decomposition of Mg(OH)2, (b) a silicone oxide coating to conceal the nanoparticles and prevent interparticle sintering upon exposure to high temperatures, and (c) heat treatment at 1000 \ub0C. The formation of the hydroxide phase on these silicone oxide-coated MgO nanoparticles after extended exposure to humid air was assessed by thermogravimetry, infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The nanoparticles showed essentially no sign of any hydroxide phase compared to particles prepared by the conventional single-step thermal decomposition of Mg(OH)2. The moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles showed improved dispersion and interfacial adhesion in the LDPE matrix with smaller nanosized particle clusters compared with conventionally prepared MgO. The addition of 1 wt % moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles was sufficient to decrease the conductivity of polyethylene 30 times. The reduction in conductivity is discussed in terms of defect concentration on the surface of the moisture-resistant MgO nanoparticles at the polymer/nanoparticle interface

The impact of MgO nanoparticle interface in ultra-insulating polyethylene nanocomposites for high voltage DC cables

Low density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites with a reduced conductivity of two orders of magnitude are reported as a novel insulation material for high voltage distribution of renewable energy. The key to the high insulation capacity was to provide 70 nm hexagonal MgO nanoparticles with relatively tong, preferably 18 units long, hydrocarbon functional silsesquioxane coatings. This rendered the surface of the particles completely hydrophobic and also served as a protective layer against adsorption of polar low molecular weight atmospheric substances (H2O and CO2). The elimination of trace amounts of water, in combination with the provided carbon functionality, dramatically improved the dispersion of MgO nanoparticles. The lowest volume conductivity was ca. 7 x 10(-16) s m(-1) for 3 wt% surface coated nanoparticles. Extensive electron microscopy characterization was further used to relate the measured volume conductivity, acquired under conditions that resemble 800 kV high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables, to the distribution of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. The results show that an appropriate surface-modification approach yielded uniformly dispersed MgO nanoparticles up to contents as high as 9 wt%, with maintained 10-100 times reduced volume conductivity. Simulations of the MgO nanoparticles distribution revealed that the required interaction radius of the MgO-phase was 775 nm, setting a lower limit of particle amount to effectively work as electrical insulation promoters. The reduced volume conductivity values and scalable processing chemistry reported allow for the production of the next generation insulation material for HVDC cables

Influence of nanoparticle surface coating on electrical conductivity of LDPE/Al2O3 nanocomposites for HVDC cable insulations

LDPE/metal oxide nanocomposites are promising materials for future high-voltage DC cable insulation. The surface coating of the nanoparticles is a key step to achieve well-balanced properties. This paper presents data on the influence of the structure of the nanoparticle coating on the electrical conductivity of LDPE/Al2O3 nanocomposites. Al2O3 nanoparticles, 50 nm in size, were coated with a series of silanes with terminal alkyl groups of different lengths (methyl, octyl and octadecyl groups). The density of the coatings in vacuum was between 200 and 515 kg m-3, indicating a porous nature on the nanoparticle surface. The dispersion of the nanoparticles in the LDPE matrix was assessed based on statistics for the nearest-neighbour particle distance. The electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites was determined at 40 and 60 \ub0C. The results show that an appropriate surface coating on the nanoparticles maintained uniform particle dispersion up to a filler loading of 10 wt.%, with a maximum reduction in the electrical conductivity by a factor of 35. Large particle agglomerates were found to increase the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposites. The composites based on the highly porous octyl-coated nanoparticles showed the greatest reduction in electrical conductivity and the lowest temperature coefficient of electrical conductivity of the composites studied

Cavitation in strained polyethylene/aluminium oxide nanocomposites

The incorporation of metal oxide (e.g. Al$_2$O$_3$) nanoparticles has a pronounced positive effect on low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as an insulating material for high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) cables, the electrical conductivity being decreased by one to two orders of magnitude and charge species being trapped by the nanoparticles. The risk of debonding between the nanoparticles and the polymer matrix leading to electrical treeing via electrical discharges in the formed cavities was the motivation for this study. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray ptychographic tomography were used to study a series of LDPE nanocomposites which contained Al$_2$O$_3$ nanoparticles treated with silanes having terminal alkyl groups of different lengths (methyl, octyl and octadecyl). When specimens were subjected to a tensile strain (a typical specimen stretched beyond the onset of necking consisted of three zones according to SEM of specimens that were studied after removal of the external force: an essentially cavitation-free zone with low local plastic strain, a transitional zone in which local plastic strain showed a marked increase and the revealed concentration of permanent cavities increased with increasing plastic strain and a highly strained zone with extensive cavitation), the cavitation occurred mainly at the polymer-nanoparticle interface according to SEM and X-ray ptychographic tomography and according to SEM progressed with increasing plastic strain through an initial phase with no detectable formation of permanent cavities to a period of very fast cavitation and finally almost an order of magnitude slower cavitation. The polymer/nanoparticle interface was fractal before deformation, as revealed by the profile of the Porod region in SAXS, presumably due to the existence of bound polymers at the nanoparticle surface. A pronounced decrease in the interface fractal dimension was observed when the strain exceeded a critical value; a phenomenon attributed to the stress-induced de-bonding of nanoparticles. The strain-dependence of the interface fractal dimension value at low strain levels between composites containing differently treated nanoparticles seems to be an indicator of the strength of the nanoparticle-polymer interface

Formation and the structure of freeze-dried MgO nanoparticle foams and their electrical behaviour in polyethylene

Electrically insulating low-density polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites based on dispersed MgO nanoparticle foams are reported. The foams were obtained via freeze-drying aqueous suspensions of precipitated ca. 40 nm wide and 10 nm thick Mg(OH)(2) nanoparticles and dewatering (calcining) at 400 degrees C, resulting in a 25 times more voluminous powder compared to conventionally dried nanoparticles. This powder handling prior to extrusion melt-processing greatly facilitated the nanocomposite preparation since no particle grinding was necessary. Large quantities of particles were prepared (>5 g), and the nanoparticle foams showed improved dispersion in the LDPE matrix with 70% smaller aggregate sizes compared to the conventionally dried and ground nanopowders. The nature of the nanoparticle foams was evaluated in terms of their dispersion on Si-wafers using ultrasonication as a dispersing aid, which showed to be detrimental for the nanoparticle separation into solitary particles and induced severe aggregation of the calcined nanoparticles. The grind-free MgO nanoparticles/LDPE-composite was evaluated by electrical measurement. The prepared composite showed an initial ca. 1.5 orders of magnitude lower charging current at 10(2) s, and a 4.2 times lower charging current after 16 hours compared to unfilled LDPE. The results open a way for improved insulation to be implemented in the future high-voltage cable system and present a new promising nanoparticle powder handling technique that can be used on a large scale