Improvement of partial discharge resistance of polypropylene under AC voltage by blending elastomer

This paper reports on the partial discharge (PD) erosion characteristics of polypropylene (PP)/elastomer blends where ethylene-octene copolymer elastomer (EOC) and propylene-based elastomer are involved. The PD erosion is performed through a pair of needle-to-plane electrodes by applying 5 kV AC voltage for 2 h. A high-frequency current transformer, optical recorder, and ozone sensor are used to capture the information released during the PD erosion process. In addition, a 3D optical profilometer is employed to record the erosion profile, from which the erosion depth and the surface roughness can be extracted. Carrier trap distribution is derived from the isothermal surface potential decay measurement. The influences of elastomer type and content on the PD resistance are analyzed. The results show that the resistance is improved with the addition of elastomer, and the blend containing EOC of 20 wt% has the best PD resistance among all samples, which is 61.9% higher than that of the pure PP. It is proposed that the carrier trap characteristics, the property of elastomer, and the free volume in the material play important roles in the improvement of the PD resistance. This work provides a potential method to enhance the PD resistance of PP by blending elastomer with proper type and content.