Investigating charge trapping behaviour of nanocomposite isotactic and syndiotactic polypropylene matrix

This paper presents the results of electrical characterisation of nanostructured polypropylene. In particular, space charge and charging/discharging current measurements performed on nanostructured syndiotactic and isotactic polypropylene were carried out. The nanofiller considered is a synthetic fluorohectorite which was rendered organophilic through treatment by octadecylamine. The comparison with unfilled syndiotactic and isotactic polypropylene shows that well oriented and exfoliated nanofiller can modify significantly trapping properties, as revealed by space charge and conduction current measurements. An overall improvement of electrical insulation behaviour under DC field is seen through reduced space charge accumulation with poling field. This seems to open interesting perspectives for the application of the investigated materials as improved insulation of electrical apparatus under DC stress.