Studies on Electrical Properties of Nanoclay Filled Thermoplastic Polyurethane/Polypropylene Blends

The electrical properties of ester/ether-based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and polypropylene (PP) blends are presented in this article. Special attention has been paid to analyze the effect of blend ratio, compatibilization, and effect of nanoclay on the electrical properties of TPU/PP blends. The electrical properties measured were dielectric constant (epsilon'), volume resistivity (rho(upsilon)), loss factor (epsilon ''), and dissipation factor (tan delta). Addition of PP into TPU increases the volume resistivity and reduces the dissipation and loss factor due to the decrease in the overall polarity of the system. Further addition of compatibilizer and nanoclay to this system reduced the dissipation factor and loss factor with increased volume resistivity. Compared with the ether-TPU based blend nanocomposites, the ester-TPU blends show better compatibility as confirmed by analysis. (C) 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers