Improving the high-voltage insulation properties of polypropylene by introducing trace addition of polyvinylidene fluoride: An experimental and simulation study

Various additives ranging from inorganic nanoparticles to organic additives have been suggested to improve the insulation performance of polymeric materials for high-voltage engineering applications. Herein, a simple method for doping fluorine into a polypropylene (PP) matrix was presented by melt-blending of isotactic PP (iPP) with a small amount of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as a thermoplastic voltage stabilizer (TVS). During melt-mixing, the PVDF TVS, which is immiscible with PP, is gradually split into smaller domains within the iPP matrix and finely distributed, especially at a low PVDF content. The direct current (DC) breakdown strength (BDS) values of the PVDF-doped iPP increased by 110 % and 149 % at 25 and 110 °C, respectively, compared to those of the pristine PP, while its dielectric permittivity and loss tangent values remained nearly similar to those of iPP at wide temperature between 25 and 140 °C and frequency range between 1 Hz and 10 MHz. Quantum chemical simulation results reveal that a small amount of PVDF with high dipole moment introduces deep trap sites within the polymer matrix, which contribute for increasing BDS of iPP. Also, the PP with a small amount of PVDF dopants below 1.0 phr exhibited no any decrease in the tensile strength and elongation at break values. Therefore, the PVDF-doped iPP is anticipated as a potential candidate as high-performance high-voltage insulation materials for next-generation insulation applications.