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. 2021 Apr 7;14(8):1811.
doi: 10.3390/ma14081811.

Effect of Acetylated SEBS/PP for Potential HVAC Cable Insulation

Peng Zhang  1   2 , Xuan Wang  1   2 , Jiaming Yang  1   2 , Yongqi Zhang  1   2
Affiliations

Effect of Acetylated SEBS/PP for Potential HVAC Cable Insulation

Peng Zhang et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Blending polypropylene (PP) with thermoplastic elastomer SEBS can effectively improve the mechanical toughness of PP, thus leading to the promise of SEBS/PP as the primary insulation material for high voltage alternating current (HVAC) cables. However, the growth of electrical trees during cable operation limits the application of SEBS/PP. In this paper, acetylation reaction is used to construct acetophenone group at the end of the benzene ring on SEBS so that it has the effect of both a toughening agent and a voltage stabilizer. Then PP was melt blended with acetylated SEBS (Ac-SEBS), and the effects of Ac-SEBS on the mechanical properties, electrical tree resistance, alternating current (AC) breakdown strength, and dielectric spectrum of PP were mainly investigated with reference to PP and SEBS/PP. The results showed that Ac-SEBS with 30% content could enhance the mechanical toughness of PP and improve the electrical tree resistance and AC breakdown strength of SEBS/PP. The AC breakdown field strength of Ac-SEBS/PP reached the highest when the acetylation level was 4.6%, which was 9.2% higher than that of SEBS/PP. At this time, Ac-SEBS was also able to absorb high-energy electrons through the keto-enol interchange isomerization reaction, which inhibited the initiation and growth of electric trees and caused the development of electric dendrites in a jungle-like manner. Moreover, the dielectric loss factor of AC-SEBS/PP in power frequency is within the allowable range of industry. Therefore, Ac-SEBS/PP is expected to be applied to HVAC cables, thus further improving the efficiency of HVAC power transmission.

Keywords: breakdown field strength; electrical tree; polypropylene; thermoplastic elastomer; voltage stabilizer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The preparation of Ac-SEBS.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Infrared spectra of SEBS and Ac-SEBS.
Figure 3
Figure 3
1H NMR spectra of SEBS and Ac-SEBS.
Figure 4
Figure 4
SEM images of Ac-SEBS/PP composites with different acetylation degrees of SEBS: (a): PP; (b): 0%; (c): 2%; (d): 4.6%; (e): 6%; (f): 12%.
Figure 4
Figure 4
SEM images of Ac-SEBS/PP composites with different acetylation degrees of SEBS: (a): PP; (b): 0%; (c): 2%; (d): 4.6%; (e): 6%; (f): 12%.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Stress-strain curve of PP and its composites.
Figure 6
Figure 6
AC breakdown field strength of PP and its composites.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Weibull distribution of the electrical tree initiation voltage of PP and its composites.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Relationship between the tree length and the treeing time.
Figure 9
Figure 9
The electrical tree microscopic morphology of PP and Ac-SEBS/PP with different degrees of acetylation when the voltage is applied for 7200 s (a): PP, (b): PP/SEBS; (c): 2%; (d): 4.6%; (e): 6%; (f): 12%.
Figure 10
Figure 10
The dielectric constant spectrum of PP and its composites.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Dielectric loss spectrum of PP and its composite materials.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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