Partial discharge and mechanical characteristics of NR-LLDPE-TiO2-coconut coir fibre

Organic materials are abundant, renewable, cheap and fully biodegradable. They are promising since they may be blended with plastic to enhance the mechanical and electrical properties of polymer matrix composites. In this research, sisal composites were manufactured from 1% NaOH treated coconut coir fibres (CCF) blended with Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂). The influence of fibre loading on the composites in the tensile tests and electrical properties tests has been evaluated. Partial discharge (PD) test was done to evaluate the electrical performance of the composites under constant 6.5 kV AC source for 1 hour utilizing the CIGRE Method II. The partial discharge characteristics were observed using picoscope and LabView 8.5 software. Then, tensile tests were carried out to evaluate the mechanical performance of the fibre reinforced composite materials. The results of PD characteristics and mechanical properties of composites obtained showed enhancement of the mechanical properties and improvement of the PD resistance of the composites with the addition of CCF. It is demonstrated that the composites containing 16 wt% CCF, 48 wt% NR, 32 wt% LDPE and 4 wt% TiO₂ showed a good mechanical and PD resistance. Therefore, this composite is suggested to be used as electrical insulating material with better electrical and mechanical properties.