Intermolecular Interaction and Electric Field Dependence of Reverse Micelle on Water Tree Initiation in Polyethylene

It has been experimentally found that when amphiphilic surfactants are added to polyethylene (PE), water tree initiation, especially that of bow-tie trees (BTTs), is suppressed. In this study, we analyze the intermolecular interactions among PE, amphiphilic surfactants, and water molecules by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and quantum chemical calculation. Moreover, we confirm that the surfactants and water molecules form a reverse micelle, and investigate the effect of the presence or absence of an electric field.