Preparation of polypyrrole nanobowls and their effect for improving direct current dielectric properties of polyethylene

Polypyrrole (PPy) nanobowls were successfully prepared through a reactive self-degraded template polymerization and the morphology of PPy nanobowls was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The nanobowls were uniform with diameters of about 100 nm. The low density polyethylene/polypyrrole (LDPE/PPy) nanocomposites were obtained by melt blending method. The structures of PPy nanobowls and the rianocomposites were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). Space charge distributions in LDPE/PPy nanocomposites with different PPy nanobowls contents were measured using the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) method. The results indicated that PPy nanobowls doping with a small quantity exhibited excellent suppression performance of space charge accumulation in LDPE and the nanocomposites showed improved direct current (DC) electrical conductivity and breakdown characteristics. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.