Fabrication and dielectric properties of polypropylene / silica nano-composites

Polymer nanocomposites have been shown to exhibit enhanced properties compared to those of the matrix. However the main problem in their fabrication is to obtain an efficient dispersion of nanoparticles in the matrix. In this work, polypropylene powder and nanosilica colloidal suspensions were mixed using planetary milling at 1 wt%. Two sizes of nanosilica particle were used (10-20 nm and 140-150 nm). Different rotation speeds and milling durations were tested for the fabrication process. Thermo Gravimetric Analyses were conducted to ensure that there was no contamination during fabrication. The resulting samples were studied by Dielectric Breakdown, Dielectric Spectroscopy and Thermo Gravimetric Analysis.