Study on Electrical Properties of PE/TiC Nano-composites

As titanium carbide (TiC) shows excellent electrical and mechanical properties, polyethylene (PE)/TiC nano-composites are prepared. The filler loading is 0, 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 wt%. The different scanning thermal analyzer, dielectric spectrum instrument and conduction measurement are, respectively, used to measure the crystallinity, relative permittivity and dc conductivity of PE/TiC nano-composites. Experimental results show that the crystallinity of PE/TiC nano-composites firstly increases and then deceases with filler loading. The 0.5 wt% and 1 wt% PE/TiC nano-composites show lower relative permittivity than pure PE. The 5 wt% and 10 wt% PE/TiC nano-composites show higher relative permittivity than pure PE. The dc conductivity of PE/TiC nano-composites firsly decrease then increase with the increasing filler loading. In addition, compared with pure PE, PE/TiC nano-composites have smaller change with the increasing temperature. The PE/TiC nano-composites are beneficial to improve the electrical performance of cables.