Conductance Current and Space Charge Characteristics of SiO₂/MMT/LDPE Micro-Nano Composites

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is one of the most comprehensive products used as insulation materials in power equipment. How to improve its dielectric properties by doping inorganic particles in LDPE has always been the focus of many researchers. In this paper, silica (SiO₂) particles and montmorillonite (MMT) particles were added to LDPE, the order of adding particles was changed, and different micro-nano composites was made. The crystallization characteristics of composites were analyzed, the curves of the conductance current with the change of field intensity were analyzed, and the space charge distribution of each material were investigated. The results of crystallization show that the crystalline properties and crystallinity of the composites are higher than the matrix LDPE, the addition of SiO₂ particles increases the composites' crystallinity significantly, and the intercellular spacing of micro-nano composites is the smallest among all materials. The curve of conductance current versus electric field intensity shows that the tightness of the crystal structure can effectively hinder the movement of the molecular chain, inhibit carrier migration, while shortening the free travel of electrons, thereby reducing the electric conduction current of the material. The experimental results of the space charge accumulation curve further show that the compact crystal structure of the material is beneficial to the dissipation of space charge in the dielectric.