DC conduction properties of SiO 2 /LDPE nanocomposite

The DC conduction characteristics of Silica (SiO 2 )/low density polyethylene(LDPE) nanocomposite was investigated at electric fields of 3 to 30kV/mm and at temperatures of 20 to 70°C. By the addition of nano-sized SiO 2 filler, the conductivity was decreased at least in an order of magnitude in the whole range of temperatures. SiO 2 /LDPE shows much lower thermal activation energy than LDPE. The current voltage (I–V) characteristic shows that SiO 2 /LDPE has a higher Space-charge-limited-current threshold than LDPE, which indicated the suppression of space charge injection. The interfacial electric charge region was suggested to be the reason for the improvement of electrical properties in Nanocomposite.